Double Edged Blade
by FailScribe
Summary: While on a mission to kill off a Kishin egg and retrieve something secret, Maka and company find a young girl. Their discovery leads them through much more than any of them could have anticipated. Now they must try to peice together the past in order to prevent hundreds of chaos and death in the form of a new Kishin. !SPOILERS INSIDE!
1. Prologue

**Double Edged Blade**

**Prologue**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma, BluesNavi, and FailScribe**

**Rated T for:**

**Violence – Mentioning of blood and attacking**

**Language – All kinds of colorful words~**

**Implied Nudity – You will know someone is naked or has been naked, but I will not mention their body parts**

**Implied Sexual Themes – Again, you will know it has happened and taken place, but I will not go into graphic details.**

****If any of the content above offends you, please do not proceed to reading****

**So here is where I put all my introduction stuff. Since this is the prologue, expect it to be a lot shorter than the upcoming chapters. And since it's shorter I decided to put all the useless information people might want here!**

**First off, this FF is LONG. If you're just clicking on this, then you should realize I have more than ten or twenty chapters planned for this.** **With that being said, I will tell you I have all the chapters all typed up and in their first draft stage. However, I only update about once a week because I take the time to edit them all along with the help from my lovely sister, Kurochi Akuma, as well as the lovely lady, BluesNavi. Speaking of that, if you would like to become an editor of this FF, please inform me via PM and I will set you up. No special requirements, just someone who likes reading. ;3**

**Secondly, I have OCs in this FF and they play a pretty big part in the plotline. So if you hate this sort of thing, I advise you leave. But I will say that I don't like these sorts of FFs done horribly wrong, so it would be nice if you stuck around and at least let me know how I'm doing. ;P**

**Thirdly, this is my official coming back from hiatus FF. Therefore over the years of no writing, I have forgotten a lot. So I would absolutely love you to death if you sent me some feedback. If you liked something, tell me what you liked and I'll be sure to put it in more often. ^-^ On the other hand if you didn't like something, tell me and I'll make sure not to throw it in. I'm a very adaptable person and so fixing something will probably be very easy.**

**Fourthly, I find it will be impossible for this FF to go dead because…well I already have** **the story typed up so if I get bored of editing and want to end it I can just upload all the chapters unedited so you at least get an idea of how it all turns out.**

**Finally I will probably be having random contests throughout this FF so keep an eye out for something. You can win things such as a preview of the next chapter, OC bios, artwork, and a bunch of other things depending on the contest.**

**Sorry for all the explaining, I just figure I should get things down before this whole thing starts. I promise the beginning Author's Note will be a lot smaller for each of the chapters. If I have to write a book I'll be putting it at the end. LOL Anyway, since this is the prologue and so FF doesn't yell at me, I will be putting in the story now. I also uploaded the first chapter after this one so you can get right into the story afterward because the prologue doesn't give you much information about what's going on.**

**Thank you for reading the boring-ness! Now you may go on~ :3**

She entered the white room with her heart pounding in her chest. With her mind focused however, she became much stronger. In her mind, she decided if she stopped thinking about the consequences, it would prevent her from backing out. After all, she had no other choice. If she decided not to do this, she would certainly face worse out there in the harsh world. Therefore staying focused was the only thing that would save her from the wrath outside. She knew this was for the best, yet her body was writhing with an inescapable fear. A fear of death.

The little girl didn't know much about life yet. Her eyes were still bigger than her own stomach after all. She couldn't fathom how the real world worked when you were an adult. She knew it involved money and work, as well as other boring things that she doubted she'd ever enjoy. But then again, how could she possibly know if work and money suited her? The end was coming near.

On the opposite side of the spectrum however, she understood death well. It made people disappear and turn cold. They would seem sleeping, but they really would never wake up. No one, not even the adults around her, knew what happened when you died. Ironically, it was one of the biggest mysteries to life itself. Some people thought you went to someplace called heaven and then others thought you would live again in a different life. But then, there were a bunch of others who thought you just didn't exist.

In some cases there would be blood, mutilation, fear, tears, as well as trauma. She wondered if you still felt those pains when you were dead. Many people believed you were at peace when you were gone, but what if you can still feel all your injuries to the fullest? That didn't really matter to her however. Thankfully, she wasn't planning on dying too horribly. She was going die in a few moments as peacefully as she could possibly make it. This was her decision.

She approached the bedside, hands trembling. With her weakened strength, she was surprised that she actually managed to crawl right into the bed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she slowly lay down next to the figure already there. The eyes were closed and the body was still. Yet somehow, the girl could feel life deep down inside. It made her smile through her tears. This death would be worth it after all. She reached out to hug the figure across the chest, pulling the body towards her in an embrace. The body was cold and unmoving, just like a dead person. She remembered that bodies were often rigid after death, therefore her hope of there being life inside quickly faded away. Her beloved was indeed dead, and she was the only one who could do anything about it.

She buried her face into this person's shoulder, weeping quietly in her lonesome. There was absolutely nothing that could be done to save the faded life. That meant her fate was sealed. She wasn't sure she was ready to do such a thing. She loved being able to decide how to end her own life, but that didn't make her task any easier. In the movies they made it look so graceful and brave, yet she didn't feel the same. Perhaps she didn't want to do this after all. No, that couldn't be the case. This was the correct choice.

Her body was just concerned for its own survival. It would be her job to shut it up when the time came. The girl knew her friend wouldn't be able to hear, yet she felt the need to speak to them as though they could. She lifted her head from the shoulder and sat up, staring down at the face. Tears fell as she lightly whimpered out in a soft voice, "You poor thing."

The words seemed to shake her even more. She felt terrified knowing what she was about to do. Her head whirled in hundreds of directions. She questioned just about everything in her innocent mind. She had plans in her life, and could remember distinctly that none of them involved this. Now it was too late to change and go back. She had made all the wrong decisions to try fixing it and was going to pay for it. If she had not volunteered to take this kind of punishment, she would probably be facing circumstances filled with torture. Besides, at least this way she could give back and allow the one who deserved all of life's gifts to experience it once more.

She lightly petted the hair of the figure. Her heart warmed up at the softness, more water flowing from her eyes. She would definitely miss this part of her life. The one who was here in front of her had been her hopeful glimpse in this short life. All the pain she had felt passed through her beloved as well. She was never alone in her pains for this person always felt the same way. She would miss the feeling of being with them the most though. The thought of not bringing them to death with her felt tragic. She touched the cheek now stained due to her falling tears, noticing how the soft skin mimicked her own. With a smiled she said quietly, "Let's try not to be sad."

The figure wouldn't respond, yet she continued, "I promise I won't be sad, so please just promise me you'll do the same."

There was only silence in response. The girl kept talking, "I'm…I'm incredibly sorry for everything I've done. I hope you can forgive this foolish girl…for I am a truly evil person, aren't I?"

She replied to herself and the unresponsive friend, "Yes, I know you too well, my dear. You'll follow me to the end of the Earth, even if I just end up killing you there when we reach it. That's why you are like this now. But I promise from now on I'll be a better person for you."

She went down to lay right next to the figure. "You won't be able to see me or hear me, but I promise I'll be with you. I won't ever leave your side."

She began to weep some more at that thought, but continued speaking anyway. "I know you'll be worried for me, but just know I can handle anything now. I've grown up enough thanks to you, so now it's your turn to be alive."

"But before I go," she went up towards the figure's ear, "I just want to tell you one thing."

She put her hand on top of the figure's hair, whispering so her words would press against the skin of the ear lobe, "I love you."

She smiled again, tears rolling down her cheeks once more. She lifted her head, causing the tears to fall on the figure's forehead. She lifted her right leg up, swinging it over the body and lying down gently so that she was face to face with the figure. She stopped crying as she went down so their lips met. Come to think of it, she had never kissed anyone quite like this before. However, the feeling she got from this made her a little sad she would never experience it again. It was warm and she felt connected to the life below her, however small it was. Taking her lips away briefly, she kissed again, but this time on the soft skin of the figure's cheek. The surface of the skin felt even smoother, however not as soft as the lips. Though there was no warmth, it was still quite good to be so close to someone you cared about.

The contact seemed to calm her down a little as she positioned herself just above a bandaged section across the figure's chest. Her fingers were trembling as the fear gripped her heart. Her mind screamed for her to stop immediately. She had second thoughts of course, wondering if she could just sneak away and pretend as though she just disappeared. However, the more intelligent section of her brain quickly decided that would be just as disastrous. Becoming angry with herself, she shook her head to force her emotions to behave. And when she didn't feel fear afterward, she decided she should quickly get this over with.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed her own chest to the covered wound. The connection started a chain reaction within her soul. Sparks of wonder dashed across her eyes and her body became completely paralyzed. She felt numb all over. She couldn't tell what was happening, but she had to hope it would all work out. Fearfully, she closed her eyes. She felt dizzy, her body jittering with panic. She felt like she was moving around, yet when she managed to concentrate she found herself completely still from the paralysis. It wasn't like the process was painful, it was just weird. She felt like her insides were being messed with, yet it was still comforting in a way.

Suddenly she became weak, collapsing to the side of the figure. Her body felt heavy and breathing was difficult. She realized it was time. She was dying. She held some peace in this fact however. After all, she was right next to the one she had just kissed. In her last breath, she gripped the figure's hand gently. With a sigh, she smiled, closing her eyes just as she felt her life slip away. Now all she could do was pray it went to a good cause.

**And that's it for now. I told you it would be short. Anyway, I will try to update about once a week, but if something comes up it might be longer. Check my profile if I haven't updated in awhile as I usually post news on there anyway. If something comes up, I'd more than likely put it there.**

**With regards to this chapter, I don't expect any of you to know what is going on here until MUCH later. So don't scratch your heads too much thinking about it or you'll give yourself a headache. XD **

**Also in this ending part, I'll tell you the title of the next chapter. Feel free to guess what will happen when you review, though I don't think I'll ever turn this into a contest. So anyway, the next chapter is called "Striking Mission". And I appreciate any feedback you can give me. However, even if you don't review, I'd like to thank you for reading anyways!**

**See you next chapter~ 8D**


	2. Chapter 1

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 1: Striking Mission**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma, BluesNavi, and FailScribe**

**For once I'm actually writing in first person! Yippee! 8D Critique for this is appreciated too as I am usually writing in some kind of third person instead. Changes are fun, eh? Oh also, try to guess who's the main character for this story based on the point of view, BEFORE I actually mention it~ I'll give you a hint that they're a canon character. ;P**

**Thanks a bunch in advance for reading!**

Walking out of my Soul Health and Function class, I was met by a large crowd of other students. Instinctively, I pressed my books to my chest as though afraid they would be knocked from my hands at the slightest touch. It was particularly important for me to protect the blue book held directly at my chest, for it contained an important assignment due the next day. The other books were of lesser importance, however, I still protected them from the people who bumped and pushed past me. These books contained my notes, which I would need for my nightly studying.

Even though I wanted to protect these treasures, I had to get past the crowd somehow too. Students and faculty pushed into and past me in order to reach their own destinations. Some of them I knew, but most were unknown to my eyes. This meant I couldn't ruin my reputation as I rudely slammed into each person who stood in my way.

I found some girls chatting together in a large group, blocking the way for many, including me. As much as I would have liked to punch them all out of the way, I first waited for their conversations to cease. I thought how stupid girls my age had gotten over the years. When I was younger I actually looked up to the teenage girls, but now I can hardly stand them. All they care about are their boyfriends, cell phones, clothes, and who to bitch about next. Worse yet, I usually end up being the one on the bitch discussion. I guess a smart girl with _actual_ plans in life is evil nowadays.

I blinked, realizing I was spacing out and avoiding the problem in front of me. The girls in front of me continued to chat about their personal lives. Supposedly the one was annoyed with her boyfriend for not spending time with her as often as he used to. I felt like smacking her upside the head and telling her to get a life, yet I only remained there with a fake smile on my face. To strangers I was the cute little nice-nice girl, but my friends knew on the inside I had my own bitch. One that grew pissed off when no one important was looking. As I gazed around though, I noticed everyone else appeared agitated like me, so I figured I should take the first step just this one time.

I walked up to the girls and said as politely as I could, "Do you mind stepping aside just for a moment, please? We're trying to get to our classes."

They all turned to me, their eyes filled with anger for whatever reason. But instead of being rash, they simply nodded and stepped away so everyone could walk through. The crowd grew restless once more as frustrated students became desperate to reach their classes. In the chaos, students pushed through, tripped, and dropped their supplies. I watched as one poor guy got slammed into a wall, causing his well put together project to drop to the floor. I went over to help him pick up the pieces, happy to see it hadn't been too badly damaged. After briefly thanking me, he rushed back to brave the crowd, disappearing from sight. Thankfully for me, the day was over and my only job now was to go find an assignment to collect more Kishin egg souls.

As much as I liked to study and get good grades, the field work was something I enjoyed the most. It gave me a chance to practice what I learned in the classroom in the real world; a world where things were unpredictable and dangerous. Most people would shy away from the danger, but meisters and weapons live to face the thrill of them. I was no exception. After each battle, my mood and energy overpower the painful feeling from my wounds. And so, I kept coming back to the assignment wall with just as much, if not more, excitement as the last time I visited it.

As I walked towards the wall covered with posters advertising different missions, the crowd of people began to disappear. Soon the only people I could see were my friends who had chosen to meet me here. It was just our weekly congregation.

There was Death the Kid and his two weapon partners Liz and Patty. Then of course there was always BlackStar with his weapon Tsubaki. Finally, it was my own scythe weapon, Soul, who came to join the meet up around the same time I did. Together, we made the perfect team, as quoted by many of our mentors. It was this reason that we could take on higher missions than other teams. And today we were expecting to have an especially challenging assignment in store. After all, it was Thursday, the day when the posters were added to the wall. These always offered the best missions, but you had to get here quick before someone else would take them.

"Sweet! They put up so many!" BlackStar shouted in awe, scanning over each of the assignments posted.

"Well it is Thursday," Tsubaki commented, smiling.

I was beaming too. "I think there's a lot more than usual. See, they're covering the wall all the way down to the bottom."

BlackStar became even more excited at that mentioning, "Really?"

He bent forward, squatting, looking down at the placards that practically touched the floor. Soul followed suit as well, letting out an impressed whistle, "All the difficult ones are down here."

"Hah! They were hoping the weak ones would miss them. Good thing I'm not weak, eh?" BlackStar snickered.

Tsubaki chuckled in agreement. "Of course, BlackStar."

"We should pick something different from the usual," I suggested, still scanning the wall.

The usual was a corrupted person about to turn into a Kishin, hence being referred to as a Kishin egg. These eggs were babies compared to the true Kishin, which was a being who killed and ate the innocent souls. Once it obtained enough, the Kishin would go insane from its own power and cause waves of madness to infect the entire world. There was only ever one Kishin in history, Ashura. And Ashura was the main reason the Death Weapon and Meister Academy (a lot of people called it the DWMA for short) was founded. Students like us are taught to control our power and to not let it control our minds. Also, it is our job to make sure any souls verging onto the path of a Kishin were eliminated.

We do so through these Kishin egg assignments. These were the most common kinds of missions. However, there were also ones that involved hunting for witches or helping the DWMA on research. These were rarely offered though. Handling Kishin eggs was student work.

It was then that a certain notice caught my eye. At first, I only glanced over it, but I went back for a double take. It was not a special color or specific word I saw that made me look at it again. The notice looked exactly as the others on the wall, but I paid more attention to every word and detail that had been inscribed. I'm not sure why, but I felt a connection to this specific assignment. Something inside my heart made me stare at this one more than the others. I tried to break my gaze away from this one, but each time I did my eyes kept drifting back to this specific mission written on the poster.

This wasn't anything unusual for me. Sometimes I just had a gut feeling I should take a certain mission. This didn't mean something important was in store however. So occasionally I would just ignore my insisting for a particular mission and just let someone else make the decision. But with so many to choose from this time, it didn't look like anyone else could figure out what they wanted.

In the end, I just gave into my heart and pointed to it, "How about this one?"

Everyone looked up, but Death the Kid spoke, "I was eyeing that one too. The number is absolutely, symmetrically beautiful."

"Huh? What's that one about?" BlackStar asked, looking in the direction I was pointing.

"Which one, Maka?" Soul asked, trying to find the right one I was trying to point to.

"The one about a man named Fuyuki Yoshida who has been eating human souls to protect and hide something located in his house."

They all shared my interested gaze towards what was written.

_Assignment #88888888:_

_Team Requirements:_

_2-5 weapon and meister teams_

_Level:_

_Difficult – II Star Team at Least_

_Mission__:_

_Retrieve Fuyuki Yoshida's soul, which has become a Kishin egg due to his obsession with guarding something in his house. The D can only guess that it is something of great worth and power, therefore the other part of the mission is to find and retrieve what Fuyuki Yoshida is protecting._

_Notes:_

_Do not attempt to use or interact with the object before handing it over to the academy!_

Gazing at the assignment number, I realized why Kid had mentioned its supposed beauty. Well I guess now we'll have no choice but to take it since a "perfectly symmetrical" assignment like this should be done properly, as he would probably say.

"What could he be guarding?" Liz asked, speaking for us.

"Think it's some sort of powerful weapon, sis?" Patty replied excitedly.

Liz thought for a moment, but I was the one who answered the question, "No, if it was a weapon with power, then why wouldn't he just use that instead of eating souls?"

"Then perhaps it is to make said weapon more powerful," said Kid, "Maybe he can't use it until he has enough souls. And when that happens…"

"Pah! What a weakling! As if I would want to take any of that. I got enough of my own power I don't need any special weapons to make me stronger because I already am! Hah!" BlackStar declared, Tsubaki smiling in agreement.

Soul jumped in, "Then let's take him down and show him what real power is!"

They both high fived each other, laughing as they realized how much fun this assignment would be for the both of them. I think most of all though, they were curious to see what one man would try to protect so badly that he would risk his own sanity for its safety. It wasn't like it was a person either. The words clearly stated it was some sort of object Fuyuki was protecting. I wondered then, how much someone could value a treasure that was not even human or acted human. Weapons themselves are people, but if it was truly a weapon, then the assignment would have said so. Then again, the poster also mentioned the DWMA did not really know much about what Fuyuki was guarding, so maybe it could be a person.

Either way, the suspense and curiosity made me, as well as the rest, want to pursue this assignment more than the others on the wall. Unfortunately the task at hand now was to actually claim the assignment for the team, and it happened to be the poster closest to the ceiling.

I hated when the academy did this. Each time they felt a mission might be too dangerous, they would purposely try to hide it away from everyone's reach or line of sight. It was as if they were mocking us by showing us that we are still too weak to handle these sorts of missions posted just out of our reach.

"Leave it to me!" shouted BlackStar suddenly, and then proceeded to step back towards the opposite wall.

I was curious to know what he planned to do in order to grab it this time. "You're actually planning to grab it without the use of your weapon or any of us teammates? You sure about this, BlackStar?"

He laughed. "You might not be able to surpass my greatness, but that doesn't mean you should underestimate me!"

He charged at full speed toward the wall, reaching it within seconds as a whoosh of wind hit us all in the face. I thought for sure he would hit the wall and we'd have to take a trip to nurse before getting anywhere. I quickly shouted for him to stop, but before the words could form, BlackStar was now racing up on the wall as though it were flat land at ground level. All the while he was laughing with pride and self-accomplishment.

When he got closer to the posted mission, his speed began to slow and so he suddenly jumped up in order to grab it. We all looked as he grasped the paper in his right hand and began to fall back to the floor. At first, we all cheered, but Tsubaki was the first to realize just how far BlackStar had climbed and began to panic.

"BlackStar!" She shouted. "You're falling!"

"I'll catch him!" I hurriedly shouted without thinking. And a few seconds after that, I realized just how dumb I sounded.

BlackStar only laughed louder. "Relax! I got it!"

To mine and Tsubaki's surprise, BlackStar twisted his body so he would land on his feet. This still didn't satisfy Tsubaki, "No you don't! You're going to hurt yourself!"

But her cries reached him too late. With a loud thud, he hit the floor, causing the ground under me to shake. I heard a sickening crack that sounded as though it had come from BlackStar's feet. I cringed with the sound in my mind, hesitating to open my eyes to the scene of my friend's bones broken and disfigured. I expected to hear a yell of pain from him, but the only thing I could hear was Tsubaki's yells of terror and everyone else's gasps. I then opened my eyes find BlackStar standing up all fine and not damaged from his plummet to the concrete floor. All of us widened our eyes in amazement. BlackStar however was happily smirking at each of us.

That was BlackStar for you; always giving us heart attacks for the sake of proving to us that he was on his way to surpassing God himself. By now we should all be used to his games, but he still always managed to catch us off guard with a new feat. I knew he enjoyed our worry and disbelief, which made me annoyed with him even more.

"Shall we head to the Death Room to get the details on this?" he said casually, trying to hide his satisfaction.

"You show off!" Soul yelled, catching BlackStar's attention by wrapping an arm around him playfully.

"It's not that. I'm just so amazing that it looks like I'm showing off all my power, but really that was just a small ounce of what I can do," He laughed, holding up the paper to show off like some sort of trophy.

Soul was about to say more, but Patty jumped in giggling, "Let's go get the mission so we can kick some butt!"

We all agreed to this, and headed off after BlackStar received another pointless lecture from Tsubaki. I honestly just think she should let him do whatever he wants if she was going to be that useless in telling him not to do anything. After all, no matter how many times Tsubaki has, or ever will, say not to do something, BlackStar will always ignore her.

In a way though, this made her the perfect weapon partner for him. Now that I think about it, there's probably no other weapon that could sync their soul with BlackStar, except of course Tsubaki. With his attitude, it made it hard enough as it is to work with him in the team, let alone a constant partner. Sometimes I wonder how Tsubaki puts up with it, but somehow she does without any complaints.

With BlackStar, of course, leading the way, we managed to walk all the way to the Death Room. This is where the school's head and Kid's father, Lord Death, stayed all the time except when he had to deliver a speech or something urgent like that. Upon entering the room, we first walked down a long hallway with red, wooden archways with sorts of talismans hanging on them. I recognized them as being charms meant to keep away evil souls, but they really didn't work as far as I knew. It was something the average people of the world believed to work. For us of the DWMA though, we used them more as decoration.

"Heya!" Sounded the voice of our joyous academy head master, "Hi! How ya doing? Looking great there, you guys!"

I smiled. No matter how bad of a day I had, I always felt instantly uplifted when being around Lord Death. We all said our hellos to the friendly reaper and then BlackStar presented the assignment we all were planning to work on together. With an interested gaze, Lord Death took the paper and read it carefully, making sure to catch every detail to understand what we wanted to participate in.

He then nodded. "I remember this one. I figured a team like you guys would choose something such as this. You curious to know more?"

"Yes, Lord Death!" All of us said eagerly.

"Okay," He said, placed the notice under his dark cloak, "This is a mission where you will be going in without much information on the target. So caution will be your best asset when determining a strategy."

I nodded in seriousness. I just hoped the others understood how important it was to follow his words. Even before we decided to take this mission, I knew we would have to be careful when dealing with the circumstances. Whatever Fuyuki was protecting could be something dangerous that could end up causing our failure. Without a doubt it was important to think and plan out our moves beforehand.

"In addition," Lord Death continued, "Fuyuki's so-called house is actually located in an apartment complex with other innocent souls. Ensure their safety as well as your own."

Now this created some problems already. With possible hostages or victims involved, it would mean we would have to complete the mission with as little impact on the outside as possible. So essentially, we'd have to collect the soul and take whatever Fuyuki was guarding all without using all of our power. No wonder the mission was labeled with such difficulty.

"But other than that, you should be fine!" Lord Death said happily, flashing a rock-on sign at us using one of his large, white skeleton hands.

"Righto, Lord Death! I'll have this mission done in one second. I don't even need the others to back me up, haha!" BlackStar cackled, puffing out his chest with hands on his hips proudly.

"A second? I'd only take a millisecond," Soul sneered, teasing the assassin.

I pretty much just ignored their boasting after this as Lord Death continued speaking to Tsubaki, Death the Kid, Liz, Patty, and I. He gave us the address and brief directions to the apartment complex. He also mentioned that if we needed any extra back up we can contact the academy at anytime through any mirror. I then showed him how I always keep a small mirror in my cloak pocket. Everyone was impressed how prepared I was, but really it was what all students should have.

We use the mirrors to communicate by fogging up the glass and writing the numbers 42-42-574. This was Lord Death's number, except it wasn't for a phone. Instead we could speak to each other as if we were face-to-face. Once you wrote the number, your reflection would become the other person you're contacting. It's an interesting magic invention and we'd all be lost without it. That's why I make sure to keep a mirror on me at all times.

Lord Death continued on with his usual suggestions to stay safe in the mission and then finished speaking with, "Now go out there and have a good time!"

"Thanks Lord Death!" I beamed, happy to head off into the unknowns of the assignment we had claimed as our own.

I turned around and made my way back into the academy's main building, the others following close behind talking excitedly. I joined in the conversation occasionally, adding my opinions and comments where it counted, but overall my own excitement was located in my mind.

I didn't just read books, I thought in book format. I was my own narrator reading over my work and providing details to myself. When I was younger I thought it was a strange way to think, but now I actually think I prefer to be the way I am. My mom always told me it would help me write a book someday. Though for now I think I am more concerned with being an academy student instead of a writer.

I stepped out of the school with determination, gazing only briefly at the map Lord Death provided us with before heading out to find Fuyuki's home. Along the way, Kid started up an important conversation, "So what do we plan on doing?"

I stopped for a second and turned to him, realizing we were doing exactly what Lord Death had cautioned us on, "We should think of a strategy beforehand."

"I told you!" BlackStar shouted, "I'm handling this! Yahoo!"

I ignored him, continuing to walk, "Let's come up with something on the way. That way we don't waste time lagging around."

The others agreed and followed suit. Around this time, DeathCity was beginning to wind down after all the people came home from work. Needless to say there was quite a bit of traffic as people everywhere tried to get back to their houses. With this in mind, we opted to not take a taxi, even if we could use it for free since we were academy students. Not only would we probably get there faster by walking, but we could also risk endangering the taxi driver if things got out of hand. Not that we were particularly expecting them to, but it was always a precaution. A few seconds later then, all of us began to discuss our plans.

"We have to first figure out what the object is," Kid began, brushing off some dust from his pant leg.

"How can we find something we know nothing about?" Soul questioned, "Plus it's not like he'll show it to us if we ask."

This was true, but I had an idea. "It's in his apartment, right? Well then let's find a way to get inside there. You know, get a tour and all. Maybe something will stand out and then we can move from there."

"What are we supposed to say?" Soul interrupted, "Hello there, we want to take your greatest treasure so tell us where it is? Hah!"

"We can do it, sis!" Patty piped up all of a sudden.

Liz looked over, caught off guard. "Huh? Just what do you mean by that?"

She laughed in response, and then pointed over to some half-full beer and liquor bottles on the side of the street. I was confused, but Liz seemed to understand, becoming whiney and rash all of a sudden. "No way we're doing _that_!"

**Okay, I think that's enough for the first chapter. Later chapters get a lot longer, but for the introduction this'll do. When I first typed out these drafts I had around a 4K words limit so I could figure out where to cut them initially. However, when I go back and edit, my word limit is to wherever I want, so sometimes you might reading for awhile. LOL**

**Not much to say about this chapter except that it was mostly meant for introducing characters and the setup. But you probably already know these characters, so this chapter might have been boring for you, sorry. D: I promise it gets better as you read on and get into the action. Next chapter will be titled "Antique Ice Queen". Sound interesting? Stay updated through the author alert~**

**As always, when reviewing please be sure to tell me in detail what you liked or didn't like. If it was perfect, then tell me the best part! You see, if you don't tell me then maybe I will leave it out in the next chapter~ ;3**

**Thanks for reading regardless~**


	3. Chapter 2

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 2: Antique Ice Queen**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma, BluesNavi, and FailScribe**

**Not much to say except that I am hoping to get rid of any errors in OOCness as I go back and edit, but if it still is there, lemme know. ^-^ And that pretty much goes for everything else too, but I think you guys already know that. XP Also, I currently have a random image (one that I thought fit with the story) I found on Google as the story cover, but hopefully at some point I'll get some original artwork for the image. Bear with me for now.**

**Thanks again for reading and enjoy~**

I watched as Liz and Patty gulped down several alcoholic beverages, some of which I had never thought existed until now. Having decided against drinking out of someone else's used booze, they'd opted to go buy a bunch themselves. They returned with more than I expected them to. There were green bottles that had various names that appeared German, and then other brown bottles that were unlabeled for some reason. The only one I did recognize was vodka, which happened to be the one they were chugging down the most.

By now we had gotten to the apartment complex and chose to hide out on the roof until we determined what steps to take first. We had a plan. We just had to go about putting it to action. In preparation, I had Soul transform into weapon form just incase we were ambushed. His form was quite frightening if you weren't used to it. It was a large bladed scythe. There was a black and red zigzag pattern right on the blade, matching the thin eye that was located just before the long silver pole. Most of the time, the eye would appear just for decoration, however Soul did occasionally have it express his thoughts and feelings. Hence it would give me an annoyed glare sometimes.

BlackStar was initially acting rather relaxed and figured he could be ready for a fight at any minute. However, Tsubaki eventually pressured him into doing as I did. Tsubaki was a rather special weapon in that she had many forms and could even learn new ones if she needed to. For this time, BlackStar chose to have Tsubaki in kusarigama form, the two pickax-like blades complimenting with bright, yellow handles. Both of the small axes were attached together by a long silver chain that could grow to any length.

The only reason Kid didn't have his own weapons in hand was part of our plan to get inside quietly. For what Liz and Patty were actually doing was just swishing the alcohol around in their mouths like it was just mint Listerine (they would be completely useless drunk after all).

They were getting ready to perform an act they had perfected during their times on the streets of Brooklyn. Back when they were rough thieves, they had figured people are expected to be essentially useless when they are known to be drunk. Therefore it's pretty easy to get what you want; except alcohol of course. Hence people tend to take pity on you and try to help you get home or sleep it off, whilst letting their own guards down. This was a common trick they used to get into a person's house to steal their valuables. But now, it would work to our advantage.

Liz spit out the beverage in her mouth onto the rooftop, turning to Patty and saying, "Let me smell your breath."

"Okay!" Patty turned to her, exhaling loudly in Liz's face.

Even I could smell the alcohol and I was standing a good distance away. If I hadn't known otherwise, I would have guessed they both were seriously drunk. Their hair was messy and makeup was smudged all around their eyes as though they had been sobbing or fighting at some point during the evening. They were both barefoot as well, with the rest of their clothes practically falling off their bodies like they had forgotten it was proper for them to be on.

I absolutely applauded them both for doing all this, since from the looks of it Liz was pretty embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Patty didn't seem to care and just acted as her normal self as the transformation from cute girl to bar hopper took effect. I knew they probably had been drunk in the past, even though they were well under twenty-one. But the thought of them probably looking like they did _all the time_ was a bit disturbing. I was used to Liz being the typical high school girl; painting her nails, texting, and what-not. And all I ever thought of Patty as was a bubbly and random, yet funny young girl. Now it was hard to think they were like this before.

Watching them both prepare to even act intoxicated was a bit awkward for everyone. But we all couldn't help ourselves and stare. This scene was just too interesting and even comical, as much as I hated to admit that being the case.

"Smell good, guys?" Liz asked us all, Patty breathing once more just incase we missed the previous one.

I put a hand over my nose, "Yep!"

"Whoa! That packs a punch," laughed BlackStar, "You two sure you didn't sneak a few gulps there?"

"Positive!" barked Liz angrily, glaring over at him.

"No, it's…horrible," I heard Kid's voice say, "Just…horrible, an abomination I tell you! The world is cursed for life!"

I didn't know what he meant at first, but after thinking for a moment, I knew all too well.

"Y-your clothes! You can't possibly go into the man's house looking like…that, whatever is it you call that! That mass of unsymmetrical, putrid dump!" Kid nagged, as though he had been totally oblivious to what Liz and Patty were getting ready for when they messed up their looks.

"You're worried about that now?!" Liz yelled, punching Kid in the face, "Have you forgotten that this is important to the mission, you symmetric freak!"

Though he hit the roof's pavement and his nose began to bleed, Kid still had the strength to bicker on. "Yes! I am worried that you'll cause the world to go out of balance with the way you look! It's real danger that must be taken care of right away!"

"Well we're already like this and the world hasn't blown up, so we're clear then! Now shut up!"

"I never said the world would blow up, it would go out of balance! See, you don't listen to me and you will end up dead!"

"Guys, just chill. Keep it cool," said the scythe in my hand, an image of Soul flashing on the blade.

"Actually it's no big deal, Soul. I can handle this on my own," said BlackStar, not exactly making the situation any better.

I decided it was time to step in. "Hey! Kid they'll be back to their regular-symmetric-selves once we're done with the mission."

"We can't wait that long!" he wailed, now attempting to fix Patty's clothes so they were neat and symmetric again.

Liz punched him again, but this time when he hit the pavement, he didn't get back up from the small pool of blood. Tsubaki and I gasped aloud, but BlackStar only looked over with mild curiosity. Patty began cackling at the sight, practically doubling over with laughter while her sister just cracked her knuckles. Apparently she had hit him hard enough to stretch a few tendons in her hand. I wasn't quite sure what Soul was reacting like because my first instinct was to go over and help.

I rushed over to Kid, shaking him furiously. "Kid! Kid! Wake up!"

The only response came from Liz, "He'll be okay. I just put him out long enough for us to get this thing started."

"You sure he'll be okay?" I asked, worried.

"Yep, he's not a Grim Reaper for nothing."

Patty laughed, "Well that was fun! Can we go now, sis?"

She sighed, as though regretting what she was about to do, "Alright, Patty. We can go now. Let's just try to get this over with as soon as possible…"

"Remember, we'll be able to hear everything you hear, so you can let us know if you need out," I mentioned, noting the ear pieces we each had since it would cause too much disturbance to try and resonant our thoughts.

"Will do," Liz replied, pointing to her own ear gadget.

Patty started to head off happily. "Wish us luck!"

"Hey!" Liz yelled after her, "Wait up Patty!"

She ran after her sister, heading down the steps towards the street below and disappearing from view. I tuned into my own ear piece, listening for what was happening or when they would tell us they had the location of the hidden valuable. All I heard for now was their chatting together about what they planned to do once they got to the correct apartment. It went something like they were going to lazily knock on the door several times and yell like a bunch of idiots until he answered. Then they would push themselves inside as rudely as possible, throwing themselves towards him while demanding he help them. The rest was just them hoping he'd take the bait.

In general, their goal was to locate what we had to bring back to the DWMA and then figure out a way we could all defeat Fuyuki without causing too much hassle. If anything, they could at least give us a "look" inside the place. That way we could make a better plan from there. Once we had enough information, we could then go with brute force. We'd come in and use as much of our power as possible without causing damage. For now though, it was important we be hidden; much to BlackStar's displeasure.

He grumbled atop the roof, bragging about how he could have Fuyuki assassinated in a few seconds. Tsubaki attempted to calm down his nerves, but that only proved to buy us some time before he charged towards the home on his own will. I raced after him, whisper-shouting at him to come back and wait with me. I panicked when I knew he wouldn't stop no matter what I did or said. Even Soul tried to get him to come back to no avail. But just then, we heard our saving grace.

All of us heard over the listening devices that the two sisters were knocking on Fuyuki's apartment door, Patty giggling in anticipation. This brought BlackStar back to attention and he quickly stopped, turning back to wait in the shadows. A good assassin always waits for the right moment to strike, as he would say.

I then heard the door open with a masculine voice speaking in question as what they were doing here (it didn't take a genius to even guess it was probably Fuyuki). But before he could get an answer, there was a struggle, or I think is what I heard.

"Come on. Let's crash here, eh Patty?" Liz mumbled, then I heard a thud followed by a grunt from, I guess, Fuyuki.

"You bet'cha!" Patty followed in suit, sounds of altercation following her dialogue as well.

"You can't come in here!" I finally heard the man say in protest. I honestly wondered how long it would take before he'd actually say something.

Even so, Liz and Patty didn't comply, "Hey there hot guy. Come hang out with us on this nice couch. Liz and I promise we won't bite or anything."

"I said out! Or I'll call the cops!"

"That's what the last guy did to us poor women. We're still hanging out at houses left and right," Liz retaliated, knowing just how to make him let them stay.

I heard silence then. I assume it was Fuyuki thinking about his options in life right at this moment. I figured, even though his soul was turning into a kishin, he still had some common sense left. I bet he figured that getting the police involved would be a problem for him and for someone else if the girls "got away again". Liz purposely lied that they had been to another guy's house, which meant if Fuyuki kicked them out they'd just go find another victim. Since he probably doesn't want to cause a lot of trouble in his corner of the neighborhood, he just let them go. Though, I was also kind of surprised that he could figure that out on his own. I guess he wasn't that far down the path of becoming a kishin soul. Even so, we couldn't let it get any further.

I gripped my scythe, waiting for the right moment to strike. I thought about how Liz and Patty were only weapons, having no meister accompany them in the house. If Fuyuki decided to strike then and kill them, they would both stand no chance against his attacks. I know Kid once told me they used to fight on the streets using each other as weapons, but this was completely different. We were dealing with a powerful man who was turning towards evil.

I hope they both realized how careful they had to be with this mission. Then again, we did all select it in agreement, so I'm sure we knew what we were getting ourselves into. But then maybe they didn't want any part of this to begin with and we all just threw them on the front lines without thinking about what they felt.

My nervous thoughts were halted when I suddenly heard Liz speak up, "Okay, he's gone for now to get us some food. We'll have a look around."

"Right," I said back to her in confirmation.

"I must say, the place looks about as normal as normal gets," She added and I heard movement, "Nothing scary about this place, except that maybe that the guy's a huge pushover."

"What do you see?" I asked, ignoring her comment.

"Not much. Like I said, it's average."

I sighed, "Anything standing out?"

"Nope, there- Hurgh! My feet hurt and I want sushi!"

I figured Fuyuki had come back, so I went back to being silent. I didn't think Fuyuki would hear my speaking over the ear piece, but I decided not to chance it. However, this silence only lasted a few seconds. I heard a loud thud and some glass break. I was wondering if this was part of the plan and their doing so I remained where I was. But then I heard a scream of pure panic come from Liz.

I gripped my scythe, ignoring all strategy as I leapt off the roof and went for the door. BlackStar quickly went after me, his exhilaration having been too much for him to ignore at this point. In the back of my mind, I knew what I was about to do would be a huge mistake. By charging in now we would have started the fight. Normally this would be fine, but in this case it would be preferred if he started the fight, not us. If we were on the defense, we could keep ourselves in check easier so people didn't get hurt. However, when you were the one to attack, you had to give it your all so you could break through your enemy's defenses.

But the thought of Liz and Patty dying because we had abandoned them didn't sit well with me at all. I was sure Kid, had he not been unconscious, wouldn't have thought twice before rushing in to save his weapons and lifetime friends. I think Soul agreed as well for I couldn't sense any hesitation disturbing his soul. I was also pretty sure BlackStar felt the same way, though part of it might have to do with saving them and being the number one on the team to surpass God, or something like that.

BlackStar ended up getting to the door before me, kicking it down with ease and jumping inside. I heard another shriek from Liz, making me breathe a quick sigh of relief for she was still alive enough to yell. I then went through the doorway, finding a man backed up against a wall with the knife in his hand. I found BlackStar a short distance away, getting up after receiving some sort of attack by a very surprised Fuyuki.

While gazing around at my surroundings, I got a good look at Fuyuki himself. I couldn't quite tell what race he was, though he did seem to have a bit of Asian in him. The most telltale sign of this was in the eyes and hair. His eyes were hazel, but were also curved and well open. As for his hair, it was dark colored, but also silky and straight. The bangs did hang down in front of his eyes a bit, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. His skin was peach colored and slightly pale, which made his eyes blend quite well with the rest of his figure. Due to, I guess, the heat, he wasn't wearing a shirt, but had on black jeans that hugged close to his waist and legs. The knife in his hand was what I noticed the most though. It had no blood or other such things that would be alarming. However, it wasn't your average kitchen knife.

I didn't have much time to check out the details though because before I knew it Fuyuki was coming at me with said knife. I held up my scythe, blocking a slash that would have cut open my gut. As soon as the knife made contact, I heard a yell of pain from Soul who normally would not be affected by something like this.

"Soul!" I shouted in fear, trying to pull away from the block, but to my surprise, I remained in place.

I happened to look down at where the knife made contact. A fine patch of ice had begun to grow up the long, silver handle of the scythe and it was growing quickly. With Soul still screaming in pain, I pulled away again, seeing now that the ice had essentially glued my weapon and Fuyuki's weapon together. I realized this too late though, with the next thing I felt being a smashing punch to the ribs. I gasped, the air escaping from my lungs and I fell to the floor, dropping my weapon that still remained frozen to the knife.

I wanted to go help Soul, but I suddenly couldn't breathe let alone stand and fight on my own. Thankfully, even though I had fallen, another came to my aide. It was BlackStar with his soul wavelength ability. The assassin in training charged a punch and knocked Fuyuki in the head, aiming another at the knife still attached to Soul. With another quick charge he skillfully turned and delivered a second punch to the knife, knocking both the ice and the blade to the floor nearby me.

I sensed something then. It was another soul. While its presence was there, it had no response to the outside world, like it was asleep. With all the commotion going on, I doubted any normal person could stay asleep for very long. I then turned to where I sensed this new soul and realized it was coming from the knife Fuyuki had used. I went over to it, Soul turning back to human and walking up to me with concern.

"Maka!" He sounded worried. "You okay?"

I briefly turned to him. "Yes, I'm fine."

I then noticed blood trickling down the side of his face. My eyes widened, "But what about you?"

He shook his head, wiping the blood from his cheek, "It looks bad, but it isn't."

I bit my lower lip, still unsure, but I had to let it go, "That knife is a weapon."

"Sort of…gathered that, Maka?" He sounded confused.

"I mean a living weapon!" I clarified, slightly annoyed. Cautiously, I put my hand over the handle on the knife. The blade was a milky silver color with black ink designs around the bottom where the hilt began. Some of them appeared to be leaves, yet then other ink spots looked like birds. For a knife, it was actually quite large and yet it looked so light weight with the white color scheme around the handle.

"Don't!" Soul cautioned, noticing my hand.

"There's something wrong with it. I can feel its soul, but it's not responsive at all to what's going on around it. Like it's sleeping, but not on its own." I explained, suddenly grabbing the handle of the knife and holding it in my right hand.

Instead of the usual burning sensation one would normally feel grabbing a weapon that wasn't meant for their soul, ice began to form on my hand and stretch up my arm. Soul yelled, grabbing at the ice to pull off my arm, but it was no use. This ice was thick and stuck to my body with a tight force. The ice grew quickly as well, but the sensation never felt painful. Rather, it was as if I was passing out from exhaustion. My body felt so heavy and it took so much effort to move at all. I blinked my eyes ever so slowly, my breathing becoming labored from the tiny movement.

I suddenly forgot why I was here in the first place. Or more like, I was too lazy to take any more part in this mission. I couldn't bring myself to even care about what would happen to us all. Fuyuki was there, but I didn't see him as a threat. I knew my teammates could kick his ass in a few seconds. I didn't have any purpose to serve, or so I thought anyway. I could give in to sleep. I would only go away for a bit and let them handle everything without me. When I'd wake up, it'd all be fine. My mind slipped away from my common sense and I choose to fall asleep with the ice as my bed for sweet dreams that lay ahead.

As quickly as I had begun to feel tired though, I began to get back my energy again. I blinked open my eyes with confusion. I wasn't even sure it was possible for one to feel tired one moment and then fully awake another. I became even more awake as soon as I realized where I was though. I wasn't in the apartment, fighting with the others, I was in a large room with an expensive-looking chandelier at the top of the ceiling.

The place appeared to be abandoned if it weren't for the fact that the lights were lit and there wasn't any dust. Everything about it was grand and over the top, just like those mansions you see in the movies. The carpet felt soft under my body as I lay down staring up at it all. Glancing up, I noticed the nearby dining table had been decorated in every possible way. The top was silver and glasslike while the chairs were light blue with sea green cushions. Even the empty glasses and plates all had elegant watercolor designs on them. Looking across to the walls, I saw expensive-looking paintings, but none that had people as their subjects. If someone did live here, you'd think they'd at least have one picture of themselves in the main room. This made me question whether I was in a house at all.

I got up off the ground and gazed around, catching the sensation of the soul again. I could feel it much clearer than before, which told me it was nearby. It was likely in this maze of a building, though I didn't know what exactly this place was. Maybe what I was seeing was what the soul was dreaming about. But then again, if it really was a dream, then I think it would have had actions, not just settings. The silence was also a bit unnerving. I felt like I was disturbing the place just by existing.

That then brought me to the conclusion this place was meant to keep the soul staying asleep. This place had created a shell of peace and quiet to prevent the soul from waking up. That meant it would want to keep intruders out too. Therefore being here could be considered an invasion. Needless to say, I kept my guard up. However, since there seemed to be no other way out, I figured if I found the soul, maybe I would be able to make some sort of progress as well as make myself useful.

By now I figured out how I ended up here. The weapon had taken me inside its soul's consciousness likely in an attempt to defend itself against anyone who would try and wield it without permission. I expected to find some evil beasts here that would kill me off from the inside out, literally, but that wasn't the case. I went through the mansion-like building with no sightings of evil creatures that could shred me to pieces. So it was then I wondered why a weapon would bring me inside their world, or whatever was left of it. If it didn't plan on killing me, then perhaps it meant to keep me here forever. I figured by finding the weapon though, I would discover that for myself.

I searched throughout the whole place, tracking the soul's existence. I opened door after door, only to find empty rooms of different purposes. I found a den, an office, family room, and even a small library. Of course, there were also rooms I had no idea what purpose they could serve. In fact, one was completely blank, except for a red carpet and white walls. However, after this room, I went into one that appeared to be a little girl's bedroom.

There was pink everywhere, a color I had despised for years, but it seemed fitting for this sort of room. The walls were decorated with various drawings done by a child, the scribbles simple and not perfected. There were so many around however that I had wondered how old the child had to be to make them all within their lifetime so far. I stepped over various crayons and other writing materials that had been carelessly left on the carpet. It seemed this child wasn't one to keep their room clean. Beside an elegant bed were several dolls piled on top of various stuffed animals. I looked around some more, feeling the presence more strongly here. And then, upon chance, I looked up at the ceiling, which nearly made me gasp in shock.

There, attached to the top by chains, was a chic glass coffin. The opening side was facing downward, so I got a good look at the contents. Inside was a young, pale-skinned girl who lay fast asleep. She wore an emerald green dress that was large enough for the fabric to press up against the glass. Across her chest were several gemstones glued to the fabric, creating an elegant peacock pattern. Several long strands of her white hair laid over these designs, mixing in with the fabric against the glass. From the looks of it, her hair had to be much longer than her own height, which I found miraculous.

Although her eyes were not open, I would've guessed her gaze to be quite soft and calming. For even while she sleep under such horrifying circumstances, I couldn't help but feel she was alright with her surroundings. It seemed that my guess about this place being a kind of a paradise trap was correct. She had everything she desired in this world, so she had no reason to live anymore. This weakness was what the curse was out to get. It tricked her into believing she was living in complete paradise, in order to trap her into a permanent state of sleep. Such curses could only be performed by witches. That was about as much as I knew though.

Instinct kicked in, and I knew I had to get her out. I hesitated a bit, wondering if awakening her would do more harm than good. But then I thought how right now she wasn't doing us any good. I decided just go with it.

I shouted up at the girl, "Hey! Wake up!"

She didn't respond, so I yelled louder. "Wake up, please! You are lashing out at people you can't even see! Get up!"

Despite my pleas, she remained still and asleep. Obviously a curse like this wouldn't be this easy to fix. I looked around for something I could use to climb to her. I ended up spotting a classic-looking bookshelf. With all my might, I began to climb up it using the small edges of the shelves like rungs of a ladder. It took a bit of skill, but I managed to pull myself to the top of it, wobbling slightly as I sat up.

The shelf became even more unstable as I pulled myself into standing position, my body shaking as I tried to remain on top of it. I held my hands against the wall in a pathetic attempt to keep myself steady, my footing becoming worse by the minute. When it became apparent that my position here was quite temporary, I quickly leapt off the bookshelf and reached up at one of the chains keeping the coffin attached to the ceiling.

I my platform topple to the floor behind me. I knew then I couldn't pull back on what I was doing. I reached upward with all my might, swearing at myself inside for being so short. To my luck, just as I began to fall back down, I managed to grasp the chain in my left hand. I instantly felt my body jerk as the pull of gravity forced it downward, letting out a grunt of slight pain.

I let myself dangle there for a bit as I caught my breath and gazed around at what I had at my disposal now. I let my other arm reach up and grab the chain to give myself more support. I then began to swing myself towards the coffin, reaching out with my feet, kicking against the glass. What I didn't expect was the glass to crack so easily under my strength.

A spider web-like design formed in the glass from the hit, causing a loud cracking noise to erupt out from it. Even though I could hear the crackle ring loudly in my ears, the girl in the box remained asleep. So I decided to try again, swinging my leg back up and kicking the glass once more, creating another crack as well as causing the whole coffin to shake with the vibration. The glass still remained there, however the crack had become bigger and turned white to block the view of the girl inside a bit.

I felt my fingers slowly slipping from the chains as sweat soaked through my gloves and onto the surface. With little time to spare, I swung my legs back up again to smash the glass once more. As I did, I felt both my hands let go of the chain. My body flew in the direction I was kicking, leaving me no time to react. All I could do watch as I my feet smashed through the glass, the impact causing my head to swing up and smash the other part of the coffin.

I felt blood trickle down my cheek and then flow into my opened mouth as I was crying out in shocking pain. My body quickly got heavy then, and I felt like I was falling to the ground below. Disoriented, I reached out desperately for anything that could prevent me from falling. Even though the floor was carpeted, the ceiling was at least a few stories above it. I knew if I hit the ground I would get at least one broken bone, and it'd probably end up being my leg. I never wanted to experience that, so I just had to catch myself somehow, anything at all would work. My hand didn't touch anything though, and I soon found myself looking up at the chains on the ceiling, what I had been hoping to grab for my safety.

And then, it was strange, but the room became white; a bright white too. I was still too concerned with catching myself to cover my eyes with my hands at this point, so I remained exposed to the brightness. My eyes were irritated, and even closing them shut wouldn't blot out the severe brightness of the room. I screamed, perhaps thinking I could scare away the white surroundings. I felt burning then, all over my body, which only caused me to scream even more than I had before.

This pain was unimaginable. I had never felt this before in my entire life as a meister for the DWMA. It was like my body was on fire, but at the same time I felt frozen in a shell. However, while the pain persisted, the light began to dim. Once it was dark enough so my eyes wouldn't burn, I opened them up to find the living room of Fuyuki's apartment.

"You're hurting yourself! Stop it!" I heard a shrill voice plead.

I blinked, wondering if the pain was making me loose my mind. I looked around for something familiar finally spotting Soul who was staring down at me with anger and panic in his eyes. The next thing I noticed was something quite different; a patch of ice across my arm and shoulder. I jumped, though found myself unable to move due to some ice that had formed on my bent knees that touched the floor.

Soul was yelling, but the only thing I could hear out of all he said was, "Drop it!"

I looked down at my hands, seeing now that I still had the knife Fuyuki had used to attack us. I didn't think twice and obediently opened my fingers to drop it. However, I found my hand had been permanently frozen to the handle. I wanted to scream as I attempted to pry my fingers off it, but my throat was too dry and cold. That was when the knife flashed to white light and began to transform.

The ice immediately melted off my body, much to my relief. With the pain gone, I stood up, wondering how things had been going since I had left everyone. As I stood, something attached itself to my leg, startling me. When I faced downward to check it out, I saw the young girl that had been asleep inside the coffin. However, there were a few differences than before.

For one, she looked like she had just woken up from her nightly sleep. She was wearing thin pajamas that included a tank top with little cotton shorts. She also didn't wear any shoes, not even slippers. As well, her hair was shorter, however still long enough to reach her lower back and was a bit knotty. Another difference I noticed was a bit more obvious however…

She was awake and not trapped inside her own soul.

**Getting a bit long, so I ended it here~ **

**I know with the introduction of OCs people tend to get angry, but I promise you none of the OCs that appear in this story will be Mary-Sues! ^-^ Or at least, I haven't been told they are yet. o.o' No matter how hard I try to get people to say something bad about my character's development they always can't find anything to tell me. Not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign. XD**

**Oh and the next chapter title will be "Dark Sorcerer". I hope you will like it~ 8D**

**Reviews would be really awesome, but even if you decide not to:**

**Thanks for reading! 3**


	4. Chapter 3

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 3: Dark Sorcerer**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma**

**I am so sorry for the long bit before updating again! I had been studying abroad in Thailand for a year and I was about to head back to the USA when I published the last chapter. I've been getting back into my American routine again, and now I can update. I still have all the chapters all ready for editing too! **

**Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading~ ^-^**

The girl stared up at me with light blue eyes that were widened in shock. Her eyes were large in general. And this told me she was Asian, like Fuyuki, though it was a bit more obvious in her. Her skin was quite pale for someone from Asia, but she still had the rounded cheeks and silky hair. Now that I could get a good look at her, I realized she was actually quite young. She had no curves and was quite small, so I doubted she was even thirteen yet.

She didn't move. Not that I really expected her to, but not even her face showed much movement like it would in a normal person. I wondered if something was wrong with her, so I went down by her, gently putting a gloved hand on her cheek. She blinked, causing tears already gathered in her eyes and fall, a drop wetting my glove.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not yet realizing we both were still in the battle.

Behind me, I heard a clash of magic and weapon hit together. I turned, not paying attention to the girl. The sound had come from BlackStar, who was still fighting with Fuyuki. He had Tsubaki in enchanted sword mode, fighting against what look like a black cloud that was in the shape of some sort of monster.

The enchanted sword was one of Tsubaki's most powerful forms. It could control a person's shadows and much more. However, at first glance, many only see that it is a black bladed, long sword. I know it is much more than that though. The only time I have ever seen BlackStar use this sword was when things were getting really serious. And I suspected this time would be no different. Something had unfolded while I was out, but I had no idea what it could have been.

It was then I recognized the cloud as black magic. That was why BlackStar was fighting at such a high degree. With that kind of magic, you'll end up getting yourself killed if you even think of holding back. All the chains were off now. We could fight however we wanted to. But my intellect alerted me to something suspicious.

Only witches could use black magic, so I began to look around frantically to see where one was. I scanned around the whole room, using my soul perception to sense for any presence, as sometimes witches would use a spell to disguise their souls as humans'. Though I quickly realized this witch wouldn't be using that spell, since doing so would mean they couldn't use any of their other magic abilities. Thus, a witch hiding could not have made this monster. I grew strangely nervous when I didn't find any witches nearby, but I figured the next best thing to do was to help BlackStar kill the beast.

I stood up, reaching for Soul, until I was abruptly pulled down by the girl who still remained attached to my left leg. Desperate, I pulled my leg away from her, making her yelp in frustration. I yanked my leg away again, telling her to let go and politely explaining that I have to help a friend. She still didn't budge. Now I was getting frantic. It seemed like the more I resisted, the more she held on. Soul tried to help by prying her off my leg, but her response then was to scream right in his ear as loud as her little lungs would let her.

He pulled back from her, "Ouch! Let go, dammit!"

She still refused, by now gripping with her fingernails. Suddenly, the black magic beast was right next to us. Apparently it had forgotten about BlackStar. Instinct kicked in and I grabbed the girl up in my arms, much to her surprise. I felt her fingernails scratch up my leg a bit as I did, but it didn't hurt much. The girl wailed and squirmed in displeasure, but I held on. The creature's fist slammed down and I jumped away from it, Soul following my lead. The girl in my arms froze in place. Now she was holding onto me, eyeing over at the creature in silent fear.

In the quick chaos, Soul ended up leaping away from me and now stood on the other side of the room. The beast turned to me again, charging forward. Now not only did I have a girl in my arms, but I was also weaponless. My heart raced as panic reached it, and I gazed up at the creature to find a way out.

Though it appeared terrifying, I happened to spot an opening I could take. A plan of action snapped into my brain. Without hesitating, I bolted right under the monster's arm as it swung again to punch me. I felt the girl gasp as we nearly ran into its long arm, but then breathe a sigh of relief as I narrowly slipped past it, reaching out to Soul. Soul transformed into a weapon as soon as he got my hand as though he knew what I planned to do. Still holding the girl with one arm, I whipped around and slashed the creature behind me.

I had hoped to hit the front of its chest, but I ended up being lucky enough to actually slice it in half. As the creature dissolved into thin air, I turned to find Fuyuki standing calmly in the middle of the room a distance away.

He smirked, though I could see his eyes were filled with rage, "Give her back."

I held the weapon girl closer.

"No way!" Soul snapped in reply.

"I'll gladly form something else to kill you if you needed," Fuyuki threatened, eyeing all of us in the room.

I was confused. I thought there was a witch who had created the dark magic from before. But if Fuyuki was the one who summoned it, then perhaps he was a witch. But that would make him a girl, not a guy. Although, I myself appear more boyish at times, so I generally know when someone is disguised as the opposite gender. And I was perfectly sure Fuyuki wasn't a girl dressed as a guy. It seemed like we all had paused to take a moment and ponder how he could use dark magic. The room grew still as my thoughts bounced everywhere in my mind.

Fuyuki caught on to our bewilderment, "Ah, so you are wondering how I can curse you if I am not a witch. Am I about right?"

I took my stand then, "Yeah, how do you know black magic, asshole? You can't possibly be a witch!"

He looked over at me with interest, "You're a smart one. So I think I'll have the best of luck explaining such things to you. Do me a favor and translate for the rest of your unintelligent friends over there."

I glared, pissed at the latter comment. However, I awaited his explanation.

"You see," He began, "I am what's known as a wizard. We are quite rare so I didn't expect you to know much about them."

Well that certainly explained it. My scholarly brain was already getting excited at the prospect of researching this when I got back to the academy. I reasoned that if I finished this fight soon enough, I might be able to sneak into the DWMA library before returning home. I went to attack, trying to catch him off guard. A loud crack from a gun and a splatter of blood up the wall behind Fuyuki made me stop in shock. I watched as Fuyuki's eyes widened, dark red dying the front of his lower abdomen.

"Sorry about that, guys," I heard Kid say from the door opening, "Took me a bit to wake up, but I made it."

"It was thanks to the one who put him out, hah!" I heard Patty's voice echo from one of the identical pistols in Kid's hand.

"Sure, give me all the credit," Said Liz sarcastically from the other pistol.

This was perfect. We had Kid back and ready for action. He happened to have two weapons; an uncommon asset. They were the Thomson sisters, Liz and Patty, who were each able to transform into a silver pistol. The grip of each was black with a single skull design, while across the barrel had a silver and black zigzag pattern. Unlike normal guns however, Liz and Patty didn't shoot bullets. Instead they shot compressed parts of their soul wavelengths. However, even though I had never been shot by either of them, I suspected they still felt like real bullets anyway.

Now that we were all together this job would be easy, "Thanks for joining us, Kid!"

"You're late!" Yelled BlackStar all of a sudden, "But that's okay because the big star covered for ya!"

"Good to know, however…" Kid turned his attention to Fuyuki as he bled, "That shot definitely won't kill him."

Realizing we would be fighting once again, I spoke in concern, "Kid! This girl was the weapon he was using against us. And now he won't let us leave with her. I can only guess this is what he was protecting from everyone."

"Then we have to get her out of here," With that he aimed and ran as he shot at Fuyuki once more. The crafty wizard vanished into thin air, not wanting to get hit twice.

I knew what that meant for me. My attention turned to the girl who remained terrified in my arms. She was still a bit shaky, but it wasn't as much now as it had been when I first picked up her. I think she felt safe in my arms, which meant she wouldn't be struggling anymore when I went to leave. For a moment I waited until Kid and BlackStar had gotten Fuyuki distracted away from the girl, and then I raced for the door.

As I was heading out though, I passed by a silver mirror that remained intact despite the ragging battle around it. I wasn't expecting to see anything. But what I saw this time was something colored white. It flashed right at me and was moving around frantically within the glass. I immediately stopped and looked around. I was expecting it to be an attack from Fuyuki, but when I turned to look back there I saw nothing of the sort.

Puzzled, I turned back to the mirror only to find it blank. It could've just been my mind playing tricks on me, but the image seemed so real. In fact, it almost seemed to be trying to contact me in some way. Yes, it was just a splotch of white, so that couldn't really appear realistic let alone human. My body wouldn't seem to let me move away from the mirror though. I felt myself stand there for what seemed like hours, staring endlessly into the glass, until I heard Soul's voice scream at me to move on before we got dragged into the fight.

That snapped me out of my trance and I ran past the mirror, then out the door, hoping Kid and BlackStar could handle everything without me. I began thinking of someplace I could take her temporarily so I could come back and assist Kid and BlackStar. Just when I thought about taking her to our nearby apartment, Fuyuki appeared right in front of me, blocking my exit.

I thought quickly, trying to move away from him with a rough leapt. In my surprise however, I ended up tripping slightly when I landed, and it was here he caught me. He grabbing my hair and yanked it back towards him so I would be against his chest and at his mercy. He didn't seem interested in me though, for he grabbed the girl by her long white hair and pulled her out of my arms. I heard her let out a squeal before I managed to turn around to face him.

I pushed myself away from him. As much as I wanted to keep the girl away, I also didn't want to get myself killed. Also considering he hasn't attacked her so far, I was pretty sure his priority was to leave her alive as well. Once I got back my focus, I prepared to go after him. His response then was to hold the weapon up to a standing position by her hair, his other hand held out towards anyone who got near.

"Get too close and I'll kill all of you," He said with a glare towards me as well as Death the Kid and BlackStar who stood nearby after having lost track of him.

I gripped my scythe, "Seems like she's quite precious to you."

"Yeah, what of it?" He replied with hint of annoyance.

Soul spoke up, "She's a weapon, but she's certainly not yours!"

Soul was right about that. Weapons and meisters were bonded together by their souls through their personalities. That was why each pair was also the best of friends. Meisters and weapons like to be in each other's presence. The fact this girl was terrified to be with Fuyuki told me she didn't belong with him. He had likely stolen her from her meister and taken her for himself. I wouldn't know why anyone would do this except that she must be some sort of extremely powerful weapon.

"Perhaps she isn't. But think about this for a moment. She isn't really anyone's to begin with. A weapon that cannot ever have a true meister," Fuyuki explained, holding the girl by her shoulders now.

"Impossible!" Shouted Death the Kid, "All weapons and meisters can only team up with at least one other person. This means the journeys to finding the perfect match might be a bit difficult, but certainly not as impossible as you make it out to be."

Fuyuki smirked, "Fine then, I'll give you my prized possession. See if you can find a meister for her. And if you can't within one month, I'll come and take her for myself. How does that sound to you all?"

"Huh? Who said you could make bets?" BlackStar yelled, "We're here to kick your ass and take the girl too! You're just a coward, admit it, loser!"

I nodded in agreement, "It's our duty to destroy your body and remove your soul. We will not be bribed into your dumbass bet!"

"Then let's make it more interesting," He sounded pleased now, "If you manage to find someone to be her meister, I'll offer myself up as reward."

I was stunned. I couldn't image why he would offer up his life like that. Then again, this was a Kishin egg we were dealing with. It was a likely possibility he would just turn on us at the last second and wipe us all out. As well, we did actually have the upper hand here. He was outnumbered and had to be getting desperate. All Kishins care about are themselves after all. He wouldn't want to loose his life so he would do or say anything to protect it. Even if it meant giving up this girl.

Thankfully, it was Kid who had a plan of action, "I've had enough. Maka, BlackStar, I don't feel there's any point in keeping quiet for we've already caused a lot of disturbance."

"And we know what he's been guarding," I added, sensing where Kid was going with this.

"Right! Let's go then!" BlackStar laughed, closing his eyes.

We were preparing a Soul Resonance. It was one of our greatest attacks. It allowed each of us to tap into each other's soul wavelengths in order to increase our power. By combining each of our separate strengths, we essentially create a mass of force that can do some incredible damage. The only problem was actually being able to synch up our wavelengths.

I focused in on my own soul and then Soul's before reaching out to Kid's and his weapons. His were easy to match up with, but then it would come to BlackStar's. Like with Kid, I reached out to the best of my ability and found his wavelength. I struggled to match it though. The rhythm was just out of reach and still too complex for me to handle. When I became frustrated enough, I grumbled, preparing to yell at him to tone it down. I felt easiness from Kid though, and it slowly helped to calm BlackStar's wavelength so I could catch up with it. Once we were all resonated with each other, we opened our eyes to find Fuyuki still standing there with the girl.

He didn't appear to be too nervous though. In fact, I think he felt more amused by our attempt to beat him. Why is it he always appeared so laid back? I found out when a bolt of black electricity filled the room, hitting all of us so suddenly that we had no time to react. I felt my heart shake in my chest with pain and my legs tremble under my own weight as the pulses coursed through my body for what seemed like several minutes.

When I came back to my full self, I saw why the electricity had stopped. It was BlackStar who had used the enchanted sword's shadow ability to sneak up on Fuyuki and attack him in surprise. He had managed to slash across Fuyuki's back before the wizard felt the pain and dodged the rest of it with skill. Once he was focused on BlackStar, I took the opportunity to cut him down on my own.

I charged forward, holding my scythe behind my back in preparation to take a swing. But just as I was about to deliver the blow that would have likely ended this all, I noticed the girl still being forcibly held by her hair. I then realized that my attack would also harm her, and so I hesitated. My mistake didn't cost me much except a missed opportunity. Fuyuki for one reason or another decided to dodge away from me, rather than send an attack after me.

Even though he was a wizard, a master of black magic, he still had to be getting pretty weak by now with two intense wounds inflicted on his body. We all showed no mercy however. The fact that he was getting weaker only meant our goal was getting closer to being completed.

Kid shot his pistols in rapid succession; cornering Fuyuki against the very mirror I had become lost in before with its white image. Another shot rang and the mirror shattered, losing any site of the figure that had been inside before. The glass sprayed out everywhere across the room, stabbing in Fuyuki as well as Kid and I who stood a bit to close. BlackStar was no where to be found, so I imagine he didn't get injured from the onslaught of glass shards.

The destruction only seemed to make Fuyuki even more furious. He grabbed Kid by the neck and crushed it roughly with his bare hands. Kid let out a cough and then a groan in pain before being thrown against the wall where the glass of mirror had been, getting even more shards stuck in his skin.

Now I saw another chance. And this time, I wouldn't be holding back. I moved towards Fuyuki with quick speed, aiming my scythe to cut him right in half. At first, he seemed to think I wouldn't pull the same trick twice. So I did something he didn't quite expect. I began increase the resonance with Soul and I. This would allow me to transform my scythe into Genie Hunter.

Genie Hunter was a technique I used to purge evil, and only evil. It was a special attack that would only cause damage to those with black souls. The blade would never touch anyone who was innocent. This way, I could kill the Kishin egg inside Fuyuki without harming the innocent weapon.

The red and black scythe blade quickly changed into a much larger translucent, yet fluorescent one. There was one white and red eye in the center that matched with the eye normally on the back of the scythe. The rest though was lit up and crackled as the power inside began showing itself. Once it was all complete, I took one look at Fuyuki and went after him.

Fuyuki knew what the Genie Hunter ability was and tried to escape. But a quick kusarigama chain wrapped around the weapon and wizard, forcing Fuyuki to stand there and await his doom. I didn't hold back as I slashed him clean in half, causing the girl to scream for fear she too would be dead. However, there was no harm done to her, just as I planned. Fuyuki began to disintegrate then, becoming a dark blue Kishin egg soul that floated in the air. The color wasn't the usual dark red kind of Kishin egg, but I figured it wouldn't be since he was a wizard and all.

The chain relaxed then, reforming into the sweet Tsubaki we all knew. Gently, she caught the girl who was now puzzled with how she could have survived such a great attack. I smiled, thankful the mission turned out to be a success. Soul went back to human form, drool gathering around his lips in anticipation.

We didn't just kill these Kishin eggs for homework. They were also used to upgrade our weapons. When we had our weapons consume ninety nine Kishin eggs and then one witch soul, they would become Death Scythes. This was the most powerful kind of weapon in the whole world, and everyone wanted to either have one or be one. Now the only conflict we had was to figure out whose weapon was going to get this Kishin egg. However, much our surprise, when we went to retrieve it, it had somehow disappeared. I looked around, but there was no sign of it.

"Okay, a soul doesn't just get up and walk away," BlackStar stated with irritation.

I thought of something, "Unless it has a body."

"You mean we didn't kill him!" Whined Liz, now out of weapon form and shaking in fear.

"So it would seem," Kid's eyes narrowed.

None of us had ever had this sort of thing happen before. Souls from perished pre-Kishins didn't move. Fuyuki was a wizard, but I had a hunch he was essentially a male witch, and their souls didn't go anywhere after you cut them out either. The only conclusion I could think of then was that someone had stolen it. This meant that someone was nearby.

I heard a whine and looked over to see the girl struggling in Tsubaki's arms in an attempt to escape from her grip. Tsubaki tried to hush the young child, but was only met with more wailing and frustrated kicks to her side and legs. She obviously wasn't keen on being held, even if the embrace was gentle. The more she flailed around, the tighter Tsubaki held her. She wouldn't let her go, which only seemed to agitate the girl even more. I then saw the girl reach out towards me with a squeal.

She stared at me with pleading eyes as though Tsubaki was about to take her prison or something. I tried to look away, but she persisted. She whined even more so I'd turn back to see what she was doing. Each time I did, she would give me the same look and lurch towards me. She protested like this for a good few minutes. Then when Tsubaki put her hand down as she reached out toward me, the girl screamed loudly enough for the neighbors to hear.

I covered my ears in pain from the high pitched sound, finally uttering, "Um, you think she might want to be put down?"

"Yes," Tsubaki said unsurely, still fighting to keep the girl in her grip, "But what if she runs off?"

Tsubaki suddenly yelped in pain, "Don't bite, please!"

I sighed, "Look, just let her go and see what she does."

"Sure about that?" Questioned BlackStar.

I paused, thinking about it for a moment, "Well, she really can't do much unless she has a meister, so I think we'd have the advantage if she flees."

"You absolutely sure you're right, Maka?" Tsubaki asked with worry.

"Positive."

Kid nodded in agreement, "I think it's quite safe. Go ahead."

Tsubaki let go as gently as she could, despite the girl being rash towards her. The effort ended up being pretty worthless because of the girl's struggles. Instead of being set calmly on the floor, Tsubaki ended up dropping her on the carpet so she landed on her back, nearly hitting her head. Tsubaki let out a squeak, followed by several apologies, though the girl didn't seem to be paying much attention to her. Her whole body shook upon impact, her legs in the air for a brief moment of shock before she decided to put them to her side.

She lay on the floor for about a second and then rolled over, standing up. She stared around at us all as if expecting us to come after her. When we didn't move, she brushed off her little pajama shorts, looking back up with nervousness afterward. Once she determined we weren't interested in holding her down anymore, she walked forward. I found out quickly she would be going over to me, sitting down on the floor, and gripping both my legs…again.

If this was going to be an all day affair with her, I certainly wouldn't be happy. While she was cute, she seemed too old to be doing this sort of thing. She was immature. That wasn't the main problem I had with this though. The main thing I hated about it was that her weight would hold me in place.

As I struggled to pull her off, the others laughed at my situation, not that I ever expected them to sympathize with me. The best part about having friends is to have them laugh at your most embarrassing, yet comical, moments. Though there were sometimes that this annoyed the absolutely shit out of me, especially when I was trying hard not to blush or something. This time I wasn't really embarrassed, just overly annoyed that I, out of all people, ended up being liked by this girl.

"Congratulations, Maka!" Soul said through his chuckles, "You're now a mama!"

I swear if the girl hadn't been holding me down, I would've beaten him senseless with my dictionary, "Knock it off you guys!"

"Sorry, Maka," Said Tsubaki with a smile from trying to hold back laughter, "It's just too cute and rather funny."

I growled, "It's not cute or funny! It's damn annoying!"

I went to move my legs, but she wrapped her arms tighter around them. I kicked out away from her then, hoping to catch her off guard. I managed to get my left leg free, but she still held on to my right one. And when I put my left foot back down, she quickly grabbed it again. I then tried prying her hands off, but each time I did her little fingernails would jab into my skin. I was tempted to smack her around once or twice. However, I think that would've made the situation much worse. Knowing my luck she'd go into a panic and scream to the top of her lungs again. And with me being as close to her as I was, that would cause quite a bit of pain.

With an annoyed grumble, I turned back to me team, "Let's just head back to the academy before that Fuyuki guy comes back."

"Huh? What about the Kishin egg?" Asked BlackStar, feeling a bit defeated.

Soul spoke up for me, "Likely involved in some attempt to resurrect the guy."

"And," Began Kid, "Much like Medusa, he could come back anywhere. We'd have to track him down all over again."

I gasped as an idea came to mind, looking down at the girl, "But if he wants his weapon back, he'll come quickly, won't he?"

The others all nodded, and then I added, "We should take her back to the academy and see what Lord Death wants to do with her."

"Yeah, I can't exactly think of any place we could put her. She'd be safe at the academy and we'd be able wait for him to come out," Soul said, "I think Lord Death would have a solution to that, so we should hurry on and go."

We all agreed with this, and decided to take off before anything else turned up. While having the girl would draw out Fuyuki, it didn't guarantee we would catch let alone kill him again so easily. Since witches are crafty, I can only guess wizards are as well. If he wanted to, he could slip right past us, grab this girl, and head off to kill more souls. He could even make it so we wouldn't notice until he was long gone.

As much as I hated to admit it, I didn't know how to get through a lot of black magic trickery. Therefore in this case, relying on the academy would be a good idea. There were teachers and Death Scythes that knew what they were doing. Plus, there was Lord Death himself. It did feel a bit low to go ask for help when it was our assignment though. I knew BlackStar definitely wouldn't approve. But Kid and I felt that if this mission was more serious than the academy had originally thought it was, then we should at least inform them.

Since now we knew he was protecting a human weapon that couldn't resonant with a meister for some reason, we had to go with the laws and such. After all, keeping a girl locked up against her will is certainly illegal and severely punishable. Students like us normally only handle cases where the victims have already been killed. Participating in an instance like this is for teachers. They are the ones who deal with the victims who have been imprisoned by helping them recover, find homes, and such.

I didn't know what they would make of the girl, but I hoped they weren't going to do something harsh. I doubted they would, however my mind instinctively goes through all possible outcomes in any situation. It helps me to be better prepared. With that being said if we stayed around here for too long we had the possibility of attracting too much attention. This would cause all the witches and whatever else was out there to follow us until we got somewhere where they felt they could finish us off. That is why we have to get to the academy quickly.

**Cutting again~ Don't want to wear your eyes out, heh. Believe it or not this is actually where I wanted to end the second chapter when I first started planning. But ay, it wasn't meant to be. :/**

**Fight scenes are hard to write for me sometimes, but I've been getting better at them. If you have comments, then let me know because that will make my day! 8D This story isn't really all action. I'd say it is more tragedy and drama if anything. However, I do have a good bit of fighting here. It just is written in a detailed style that I normally use for more descriptive genres. I decided to go with this because it's told in first person. So I get into Maka's emotions and inner thoughts quite a bit. My REAL action stories have a lot less detail and are certainly shorter. LOL**

**Anyway, next chapter is called "Sightseeing". I really hate this chapter title, but I couldn't come up with anything else... I may change it in the future, haha. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll come back to read more. This story is far from over, trust me. ;D**


	5. Chapter 4

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 4: Sightseeing**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma and FailScribe**

**Alright! Now we're getting somewhere! 8D Introductions will start to pick up with the details and such. This is like the point where exposition mixes with plot. It's not the boring introduction (or at least I think it's not boring ;D) where you meet people and such, its more introduction that starts up the plot. I'm sure writers out there understand the sort of idea I'm getting at. o.o'**

**Not much to say, so enjoy! ^-^**

We got back to the DWMA without any confrontations. Well except that I had to drag the girl along the whole way. I eventually convinced her to let me pick her up and just hold her for the rest of the trip. She must have been comfortable because she had fallen asleep by the time we reached the front door of the Death Weapon and Meister Academy. Even though she wasn't all that heavy, I was still looking forward to putting her down once we got to the academy.

Much to my annoyance, my dad was already there waiting. His real name was Spirit, but most of us around the school called him Death Scythe. This was because he actually was one. Sometime before I was born, my dad and his meister, Dr. Stein, had collected the ninety nine Kishin eggs and then one witch soul. Now my dad worked at the academy as Lord Death's right hand man so to speak.

He was my father, yet I can't say I ever really got along with him. Perhaps I did when I was young, but that was all before I found out he was cheating on my mother. When I caught him, I started hating him because I thought he didn't care about me or mom. Years later, this baggage has sort of dissipated, but I still find it hard to make friendly conversation with him. He tries to pretend everything's fine and that he's still my dad, but I'm not buying it. I refuse to just forget about what he did.

Even though I constantly told him off, he continued to talk to me like we were the best of friends. Each day he'd tell me hello and ask how my day was only to get my various half-assed responses. I wish he'd just give up. Recently, he had sort of disappeared so I thought he had left it alone. That was all before I saw him standing in the front hallway of the academy, eagerly awaiting my return.

"Hello there, my little Maka! How'd your mission go?" He asked as cheerful as usual.

"Just fine," I grumbled, trying to get past him to the Death Room.

He would have probably let it go after that, but he spotted the girl fast asleep in my arms and grew curious, "Oh wow! Who's she, Maka?"

He came closer to me. He was about to touch her until I yelled back, "Don't wake her up!"

I wasn't really lying there. It would've been Hell if she did wake up. Judging by her reaction to new things thus far, I'm pretty sure a creepy man touching her wouldn't turn out well. She'd probably scream and dig her nails into my body, preventing me from moving. Thus, we'd get stuck here with my dad while Lord Death's room remained just out of reach When she was asleep, I found her to be quite peaceful and easy to handle. I certainly didn't want this ruined by my own father.

"Aw, but Maka!" He pleaded, "I just want to say hello and make my acquaintance."

"Hey!" I yelled as I stepped away from him, hearing even more laughs from the team behind me, "She's what that man, Fuyuki, was protecting."

He stopped suddenly, turning serious. He gazed down at the girl more intently now. I told him that she was a weapon and that she had been put to sleep in her knife form in order for Fuyuki to use her. At first, he seemed puzzled by this, but suggested we get to Lord Death as soon as possible for his expert analysis. Silly matters aside, Death Scythe did his job well and knew a serious situation when it was brought to him. At last we were all ushered to the Death Room.

I was nervous as we walked down the hallways to await evaluation. As much as I figured it was okay and we technically didn't fail, I still felt uneasy. I knew Lord Death wouldn't punish us or anything, but I'm sure he would be disappointed. Plus, I never liked the idea of returning to the academy without an assignment completed. It was never my style. Yet I could only hope Fuyuki would take the bait and my team would then be able to redeem themselves for the better.

"Hello again! How'd it go?" Greeted Lord Death enthusiastically as we entered.

"Hi, Lord Death!" We all said equally cheery.

"Lord Death," I began, barely able to form the words from my own disappointment, "We weren't able to get the Kishin egg…however, we did recover what that man was hiding from us. It was a dagger weapon girl he was forcing to be his weapon."

I referred her as she lay in my arms right when she began to stir. I held my breath as she slowly opened her eyes with a yawn. In my surprise, I hastily put her down. She stood there, turning back and giving me a confused expression. I bit my lower lip as Lord Death reached out with one of his skeleton hands. Right as he went to grab her, the girl turned and was caught in his grip. She screamed in panic, struggling with all her might. "Now, now, now, don't be frightened," Lord Death said to calm her.

She wriggled around and kicked. Though she was trying with all her might, Lord Death's grip remained firm. Thus, any attempts he made to help her relax wouldn't work. He stared at her as he pondered while she struggled against his grip. "My you're strong minded, young one. How is it you managed to get captured?"

She didn't seem to be listening to him, only concerned with getting away from the terrifying, giant grim reaper. In her struggle, she turned to face me, pleading with me silently to help her out. I just stood there though, giving a careless stare so she knew I wouldn't be saving her. She seemed surprised at this, but then became angry. She turned back to Lord Death with rage, knowing I had abandoned her.

"'Have a name, girl? Or should I give you one?" Lord Death asked her playfully, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

Now that seemed to catch her attention. She stopped squirming and stared blankly into Lord Death's hollow eyes. A mini staring contest ensued before she rudely blurted out, "My name is Natsumi!"

It was the first time I had heard this girl speak. And yet, I remember hearing her voice somewhere before. That's right. She was the one who told me to stop holding the knife weapon before transforming. She didn't want me to get hurt and eagerly offered up the protection of her weapon form to save me. Perhaps she wasn't as stupid and whiney as I had originally thought her to be.

"Well that's an interesting name you have there," Lord Death said, "Where you from?"

She didn't respond, only hiding her face with her hands in shyness. In a low voice she replied with something. Lord Death struggled to hear, "Hmm? What was that?"

"Let me go!" She shouted, swinging her legs back and forth.

Lord Death put her down gently, having gotten a thorough look at her. She rushed back over to me immediately. Before I could move she wrapped her arms around me and pulled herself toward me, holding tightly. I grinned awkwardly at Lord Death, too proper in his presence to fight against Natsumi's death grip. Everyone else was holding back theirs laughs although Lord Death nodded keenly. He clapped his hands together exclaiming, "Alright. Here's what we'll do. I'm sure Natsumi here is very confused. I suggest we let her get some rest before deciding on what we'll do concerning the unfinished mission."

Death the Kid nodded, "I think we all could use some rest."

"We're beat," Liz yawned.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting my team to be known as slackers.

"Hahaha, don't worry even big stars like me need to hit the hay at some point," BlackStar grinned. Behind him, Tsubaki sighed. I guess she was relieved since BlackStar would be willing to go to bed and not push himself too hard.

"Wait a moment," Death Scythe said from the back of the room, apparently having stayed to hear what was going on, "What about Natsumi? Where will she go?"

I was afraid of the answer, so I quickly suggested something, "She can stay here in the academy hospital, right?"

Death Scythe shook his head, "Afraid not. For one Nygus is out of town and won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Secondly, it's the hospital, which reserved for patients and we probably don't want her to feel more uncomfortable by putting her in a scary medical room all night."

"Aha!" Lord Death interrupted, "She seems to enjoy your company though, dear Maka. Why not let her stay with you for the night?"

My eyes widened in horror, "Uh, but uh, Lord Death! We have Blair there too!"

Blair is a magic cat that had moved in with us a few years ago. She has a human form though prefers to hang around the house as a cat. Honestly, she isn't much of a bother, but I'd use any excuse not to be the one handling Natsumi's upkeep for the night. It didn't work in the end however. Lord Death thought for a few seconds before pointing out that Blair didn't need our couch so Natsumi could sleep there.

I couldn't find another way out. Until Soul rescued me by adding, "We live the farthest away out of anyone here though. I doubt she'd enjoy walking for so long."

It was weak, but I ran with it, "And she's probably really tired already."

Natsumi looked up at me and spoke up. "Don't worry. I'm okay to walk anywhere."

Well so much for that. I forced a smile and replied, "Oh, that's great…"

"I guess it's settled then." Death Scythe said now satisfied.

"Just one more thing before we all part," began Kid, looking a bit concerned, "Father, do you know anything about wizards?"

I bit my lower lip. Fuyuki's identity revelation had slipped my mind. Knowing Kid he was likely thinking of a possible cover up. A few years ago a similar situation occurred. An enemy revealed something to Kid he had never known about the DWMA and it made him question the intentions of the academy. I was nervous and hoping history would not repeat itself. But thankfully Lord Death eagerly replied, "Yes, they're male witches. They are more common in Eastern countries. But they do exist nonetheless. They also usually stay out of trouble. Why do you ask?"

"Because Fuyuki said he was a wizard," Kid revealed. The whole room went silent in thought. I felt Natsumi look around at are nervous eyes, gripping me tighter. I was thinking how I needed to get to the library to do all the research I could about this. A curious question was on my mind though, "Why didn't we know about them before?"

"As I said, they're not common in these parts. And also very little is known about them due to the fact that they really don't cause much trouble. They're not something we typically have to take care of, so we don't teach about them here, preferring to focus on witches instead." Lord Death explained calmly.

"Well what's Fuyuki doing here then?" Soul wondered.

"I certainly don't know," he replied with a shrug, "I didn't fight him."

Soul sighed, "Unfortunately he didn't reveal anything to us."

"I don't remember anything either," Kid said, putting a finger to his chin as he searched for something of value.

"We'll figure that out later," He concluded, changing the subject by adding on, "But keep this in mind, anyone who forces a weapon to accept them as their meister will only cause harm to themselves and their power. It would've been a great sacrifice of strength for him to forcibly possess Natsumi."

"Then that means," BlackStar began with anger, "He didn't fight us at full power! Damn it, that bastard held back!"

"Not to worry, BlackStar," Tsubaki reassured, "He doesn't have the weapon now, so that means he can fight with all his strength…or well, maybe that's not such a good thing."

"Are you kidding?" He yelled, "He was too easy the last time! I'm going to kick his ass when he's all pumped up with power, hah!"

"Wait a moment. We have no idea where he got to," Soul mentioned.

BlackStar stopped in his excited rampage, "Well then let's find him!"

"How can we do that?" Patty inquired with bright, curious eyes.

I realized something. "He obviously wants Natsumi back. Maybe we won't have to go searching for him."

"Right," Lord Death said, speaking up above our chatter, "But make sure you're careful about that. You don't want him to get her back."

I nodded, "Don't worry. I'll protect her."

"What? No way! You're not getting all the action!" Shouted BlackStar.

As much as I wanted to hand Natsumi over to him (and believe me I did) I knew it wouldn't work out. She had already shown a dislike towards Tsubaki out of all people, and that was enough for me to believe BlackStar wouldn't fair any better, "Sorry, um, but she doesn't seem to like anyone else accept me."

"How can she possibly dislike a God like me?" He questioned, laughing at his own inflated ego.

I decided to ignore him, and just turn my attention to taking care of Natsumi so she wouldn't be too much of a pest. I figured if she was happy, then she didn't have anything to throw a tantrum over, "Hey, you hungry?"

She blinked, eyes brightening up as she nods quickly. Being asleep for who knows how long would make anybody famished. Even I sometimes got weakening hunger pains when I woke up from only nine or so hours of sleep, so I could only imagine her stomach was probably shriveling up inside her gut. At this thought, I figured that food might actually really help fix her mood too. In fact, maybe her whiney attitude would be cured just by getting a bit to eat. Thus, I wanted to get her fed as quickly as possible.

"Hey, Soul," I said turning to him, "Let's get something to eat at the school cafeteria."

He looked at me strange, "It's nighttime. The cafeteria is closed."

"They still have prepackaged stuff and a cashier," I said knowingly.

"I guess you would know," He replied, remembering that I was part of a late-night study group.

We both took our leave then, walking our way to the academy's cafeteria. I managed to coax Natsumi into letting me go, so my arms would be free to purchase everything. After all, I didn't trust Soul with any money. It wasn't just him though. Rather it was my own personal vice. I selfishly knew I could only trust myself with money, so I made sure I had every penny that came through the house.

Once we got to the cafeteria, I realized I was quite hungry too. I looked through my wallet to see how much cash I had on me, for the cashier didn't take credit cards at this time. It turns out I had just enough to buy us all a meal. I would have to withdrawal money at an ATM tomorrow morning. But I could just stop by one before school.

That reminded me. What were we going to do with Natsumi? Surely we couldn't leave her at home with Blair. While Blair did have use to her, I doubted even she could fight off a powerful wizard. Soul and I would have to take Natsumi to school with us the next day. But with us in class, I wasn't sure what she'd do all day. I could maybe let her use the school's computer room to play games. I shook my head to come back to reality just as we were about to get in the line for the food.

We picked out various prepackaged sandwiches, fruit, and drinks. Natsumi didn't seem too picky about what I suggested to her. She might be a bit of a brat, but at least she's alright when it comes to food. Soul loaded his tray with all kinds of things. In fact, by the time he had enough he could barely keep the whole tray balanced. I couldn't complain much because I too had a lot of food on my tray. Fighting certainly made you hungry.

Thankfully, the food here around this time is cheap so I was able to pay for it all. I was pretty much broke afterward however. We sat down at a small table with three chairs for each of us. Soul and I ate quickly, like we had no manners whatsoever. Natsumi just sat there and nibbled at her sandwich, not even putting her elbows on the table. I couldn't help myself. I was absolutely starving to death. If I didn't eat that night, I probably would have cleaned out our whole fridge in the morning. Luckily, Natsumi wasn't too bothered by our behavior, so I didn't think it was necessary to clean up my act.

Since she had less food, Natsumi finished earlier than Soul and I. I saw that she starting to look bored, and struck up a conversation. "Where exactly are you from?"

"Japan," She replied meekly.

"How come you speak English?" Soul questioned before biting into his sandwich.

She shrugged, "Just do…"

I sensed we hit a nerve and dropped it right there, "Don't worry. We'll get you back home and away from that guy. He'll never be able to get you."

She smiled brightly, "Thanks. I'm sorry…but I don't know how I got there."

"In the coffin above the ceiling?" I asked. Soul looked at me oddly, but I shot him a glance implying he had to have been there.

"Yes." Natsumi confirmed.

"That's okay," I told her, "It doesn't matter now since you're out and okay now."

"So where am I now? America?"

"Yep, the United States. In Nevada to be exact. You know where that is?"

She nodded, "I heard of it somewhere. The DWMA headquarters is here."

How did she know that? I wondered. Soul was sending me a vibe that he wanted to know too. I didn't want to pursue the subject too much longer however. It was actually a nice surprise that she knew about all this. Then again she was a weapon. Unless she lived under a rock, she had to have known about it. At her age though, it was rare to know anything about the DWMA except that is was where you belonged. That ended up being final word in the conversation. We didn't really get to talk more because I noticed it was quite late and we had to get up early for school the next day.

We pitched out our trash and left the academy in a bit of a rush. Walking along the alleyways of Death City, Natsumi gazed around at it all like a tourist would have. At first, she only stared up at the place all wide-eyed. But she gained more confidence as we walked, stepping ahead of us to look at buildings or chase pigeons hanging around the streets. We both didn't really care what she did either as long as she remained in our sight.

She took it all in with amazed eyes. It was as though everything around her was completely new and fascinating. She probably forgot what the outside world even looked like. I saw her racing up ahead towards a closed bakery, reading all the signs advertising the products for when it would be open in the day. When we caught up with her, she then dashed off towards a boutique shop. Again, she stared at it like it was a piece of futuristic equipment.

Soul and I walked side by side, conversing with each other as to what we were going to do with her tomorrow. Occasionally we had to yell at Natsumi to get her to make a turn since she had become distracted. Thankfully, she seemed to understand we weren't mad at her for exploring because each time we yelled she would only say "Oops!" and follow in the correct direction.

After discussing our thoughts with each other, Soul and I both felt it would just be easier to bring Natsumi to school with us. Soul had a really nice suggestion for what to do with her. He explained that the librarian would more than likely take care of her as she had a soft spot for kids. We could drop her off there while we went studying and then come back at the end of the day to pick her up. It seemed like a good idea.

Just then, Natsumi was at an intersection two blocks ahead of us and turned to the left quickly. I didn't think much of it. I figured she had found something again and would meet up with us when we got the intersection. However, the next thing I heard was her shriek. I instantly picked up the speed, running as fast as I could, practically leaving my only weapon behind in the dust. Two blocks seemed to take forever to race through. My feet pounded on the stone path with response to the pressure coming from my strong leg muscles. When I finally reached the intersection, I quickly turned to see a large, black creature holding Natsumi in its sophisticated, hand-like claws.

It had tall, draping wings that seemed to vanish into the night sky. When I focused my vision, I realized it was some kind of dragon. It had four legs that were on the ground, but had another pair risen up to hold Natsumi. These appendages were smaller than the bottom ones, which made them appear like arms with hands. Its head was attached to a long neck that reached into the dark sky. However, I could see yellow eyes glowing from the shadows of the night. The most intriguing of all though, was a dark aura that clouded around the edges of its body.

The dragon began to take flight and Soul transformed into weapon form. With the extra time, it had managed to get a distance away from us, so I ran to catch up. Its wings beat against the sky, causing heavy winds to fly towards me. I struggled to take a step, but each time I tried, my foot would simply slide back.

The dragon rose off the ground, and prepared to leave. With my situation the way it was, I knew I was at a severe disadvantage, but I still tried harder. I swung my scythe forward in hopes of impaling the ground in front of me and pulling myself forward. However, the metal only clanged against the stone, leaving only a small scratch in the surface.

I looked up, seeing the dragon high up by the tall buildings. I screamed in fury, still trying to even get close to it, but the wind was still acting like a barrier. I cursed myself inside and out for being incapable. Soul and I had just gotten Natsumi put into our care and now we were about to lose her. There was absolutely no one around that could help in the dead of night, essentially making me the only one responsible. I hated this. This feeling of knowing you can't do anything except hope something will happen in your favor.

As if the universe was replying, I heard the sound of a metal clank. The dragon's right wing pinned to the lower part of a nearby building, causing the fragile bone to bend and break. The dragon roared in pain, collapsing to the ground with the wing still stuck against the wall. With the wind now gone, I charged with no hesitation. One easy movement was all it took to behead the creature with my regular scythe. In its death it disappeared into black clouds, leaving behind no soul. It was merely a puppet serving its master. It had to be Fuyuki's doing.

I couldn't let that bog me down right now. My main concern was to keep Natsumi safe and unscathed. I rushed over to her and checked if she had any wounds or curses put on her from the dragon. She sat up after having being dropped a short distance, then looked at me with terrified eyes. Before I could ask if she was okay, she wraps her arms around me and starts squeezing me close. From the strength of her grip though, I was pretty sure she was just fine.

She wailed for a few moments, but thankfully she had her face in my chest so her cries were muffled. I gave her a light pat on the head, even if I couldn't understand what she was saying. When she felt my touch, she loosened her grip and stared up at me in astonishment, "You saved me!"

I blinked in confusion, for I wasn't quite sure what had happened or who had thrown the knife to stop the dragon, "Well…kind of…"

With a bit of effort, I convinced Natsumi to let go and stop crushing my body. When I was free, Soul called my attention over to the nearby building. I stood up, helping Natsumi get to her feet, and then went over to him. I saw him standing there eyeing the brick and concrete of the structure, a puzzled expression on his face. I glanced at him, asking him what his problem was. He didn't say anything. He only pointed to the part of the wall the wing had gotten pinned to. What remained stuck in the wall was a weapon blade that was identical to the one Natsumi could transform into.

**Cliffhangers. Love 'em, hate 'em, either way they're going to exist, hehe.**

**What do you guys think? I hope I built up the rest of the storyline pretty good until this cliffhanger. It wasn't rushed or anything and you have a good idea of who everyone is and such, right? If not, tell me! That's why FanFiction invented the review button~ 3**

**Next chapter is going to be "Reflection Prince". See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 5: Reflection Prince**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma and FailScribe**

**Since we last left off with a cliffhanger, I'll shut up and let you read! 8D**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

I glanced at the dagger in confusion, eyeing every detail for some answers. It had the same white blade with black ink designs as Natsumi did. In addition, the stone on the building had some ice slowly snaking out from where the blade stuck in it. Now even though I had only seen Natsumi's weapon form briefly, I was sure it was the same. There weren't too many human weapons that could form ice.

I turned to question Natsumi. It was then the knife flashed and began to morph into the human form. It was a young boy, who I guessed was at least eight years old, with white hair much like Natsumi. Also like Natsumi, he wore clothes normally suited for sleeping. His top was pale blue with thin cloth and reached down a bit past his waist. He wore cotton shorts underneath. He glared nervously towards Soul and I with dark eyes, obviously questioning who we were.

He stared at us both blankly for a moment, and then suddenly lunged forward, landing a hard punch in Soul's face. I gasped in surprise, watching Soul hit the ground and the kid go after him for more.

Instinctively, I grabbed the boy's shoulders to hold him back, "Hey! What are you doing?"

With my touch, I sensed his soul a lot better. Its rhythm was familiar for some reason, but that was the least of my concern. What shocked me more was how the soul was quite weak for a living person. Not like Natsumi's sleeping soul. This one was practically on the verge of death. Just as I realized this, the boy promptly fell back, collapsing with a struggled gasp. I adjusted to the sudden weight poorly, so I ended up having to lower him to the ground.

I stared down at him in shock, noticing the hint of blue in his dark pupils. The boy stared back up at me in terror, beginning to shake. Now that I had a few moments to make sense of what was going on, I was sure he wasn't against us. The rough punch he delivered to Soul appeared to be more out of fright, rather than intentional attack. But if he wasn't going to take Natsumi or cause harm, just who was he and what was he doing here?

Soul got to his feet, holding the lower part of his cheek where the kid had punched him in the jaw. A little bit of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth from having his lip smacked into his sharp teeth, "Ouch, what was that for?"

"Whatever it was, it was his last effort," I told him, looking down at the boy.

Soul was a bit irritated by the injury, but put that aside, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "He has the weakest soul I have ever seen."

"That doesn't sound good," Soul wiped the blood from his chin.

"Huh?!" Natsumi gasped, rushing over next to me and sitting down, "N-No, please don't die! He is my younger brother."

"Your brother?" I looked down at him, seeing that he not only was frightened, but also extremely tired. He blinked repeatedly to try and keep himself awake so he could try to get away from me. He was at a complete stranger's mercy. I could understand his desperation.

"It's alright," I comforted, slowly touching his forehead with my fingertips, feeling a fever. He flinched at my touch, but couldn't resist against it otherwise. I frowned at this, not knowing what could be causing these problems. For answers, I put my right palm on his chest, hoping to sense his soul better. That was when the kid's eyes promptly rolled back and he passed out.

Surprised, I shook his shoulder to wake him, "Hey! Hey! Don't black out on me!"

Natsumi screamed in terror as to what was happening with her brother. I turned to Soul, "Get her away from here."

I didn't need her around to freak me out and make everything worse. Also, the two were family, making it stressful for her to be there anyway. Thankfully, Soul agreed and grabbed Natsumi by the shoulder, lifting her up to her feet. She resisted a little, but Soul wouldn't let her get free and promptly walked off.

"Come on, panicking isn't cool. So why do you think your bother is here?" He asked Natsumi as he took her a distance away, leaving me to tend to the boy.

Once I was sure he wouldn't wake up, I lightly cupped my hand over his mouth to make sure he was still breathing. I was relieved to feel air entering and then escaping from his lungs like normal. With that precaution out of the way, I tapped into his soul using my perception. I hoped to find out what was going on, but instead I ended up seeing that his soul was starting to perk up a little.

Sure it wasn't a huge improvement, but it wasn't getting worse or staying the same. Was it because he needed rest all along? Somehow I really doubted that. Children do need their rest and all, but the body would naturally force you to fall asleep long before something like this could happen. Something else had to have been responsible for weakening his soul. Until I knew what, I couldn't be very sure about his prognosis. For better certainty, he would have to see someone more qualified.

Feeling less alarmed, I called over to Soul and Natsumi. "You can come back now. He's just fine."

Natsumi raced over to me, Soul following just behind her. When she came over and saw her brother was still unconscious, she grew scared. I put my hand on her arm gently in reassurance. "He's okay. Just tired."

She nodded, and smiled a little, but I could tell she was still worried. When Soul saw the same thing he gave me an odd look and asked, "What was wrong?"

"He's extremely exhausted because his soul is weak. I'm not sure what is causing it, but I think with some rest he'll be fine," I explained, though I wasn't perfectly sure about that.

As if sensing my hesisitantion, Soul raised an eyebrow, "How do you know?"

I shrugged, "He's asleep now and his soul is getting stronger."

He nodded, "Yeah, but shouldn't we ask an expert?"

"Of course," I replied, "But for now we should just get home. I mean, right now we're closer to our house than the academy. I'll contact Lord Death once we get there and explain the situation. I mean, this could be something that we can handle on our own, so running off the academy could end up being a useless trip."

Soul nodded, "And if it is of some concern, you'll be the one to take him over in the middle of the night, right?"

I glared at him, "Ugh, fine…"

He snickered, "That's cool with me then."

I felt the boy's body shiver a little and looked down as he squinted until his eyes fluttered open. Natsumi squealed with relief, going over to her brother and staring down into his eyes. I pushed her back a little, "Hold on, give him some breathing room."

Though she was excited, she politely obeyed. With my main concern being his soul, I had to concentrate on what was happening with it. I noticed that even though the soul had gotten better, it now wasn't progressing. He was going to have to get a lot of sleep in order for it to fully recover. However, that didn't seem to be the boy's priority. He was practically forcing his eyes to stay open, his breathing becoming more labored. It was as though being active and conscious was tiring in itself.

I smiled down at him, speaking softly, "Just relax. Both you and your sister will be safe with us, but you should really sleep to regain your strength."

He stared up at me, still breathing oddly. His lips moved a bit, like he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear anything. I shushed him, "You don't have the strength to move much now."

Natsumi crawled over closer, looking down at him, "I…I missed you…"

His eyes blinked a few times before he relaxed at her presence. He stared up at her calmly, yet he still seemed unsure. While Natsumi did appear fine and unharmed, I was sure he still had his doubts about Soul and I. I still smiled with relief, asking Natsumi, "What is his name?"

"Yūichi," Natsumi answered with a little giggle.

I looked down at the boy, "Well Yūichi, I don't think you're comfortable there. We'll get you back to our place so you can sleep easier."

He tensed up a little, but thankfully his breathing wasn't panicky. Once I lightly touched his shoulder, he became even more nervous. I did my best to keep him calm, but that was difficult considering he was afraid of me. Given that his opinion of me wasn't going to change anytime soon though, I decided to just move on.

I asked Soul to take him from me since my legs were numb from kneeling on the concrete for so long. He complied easily, gently scooping Yūichi up in his arms, being careful not to hurt him. Even small injuries could put a fatal amount of stress on his already weakened body. Soul got him settled shortly afterward, giving me enough time to stand back up and get used to blood freely flowing through my muscles again.

I stretched my arms out to the sky, leaning back with a yawn. I was definitely tired by now. I briefly checked my cell phone to see it was nearly eleven, making me grumble with despair. I wanted sleep right now. But it would likely take awhile to get back to the apartment then put everything in order before bed. On top of this, I had school tomorrow, which meant waking up around five-thirty. I could just take the day off the next day. I had a liable excuse, having to take care of two random children. Yet a big part of me shied away from this for I always ended up feeling guilty whenever I stayed home from school. I could have the most horrible disease imaginable and I'd still find some way to convince myself I could have gone to school.

I let my thoughts wander on from here. Wanting to get home quickly, I took Natsumi's hand and walked with her. This way even if she was tempted to take off, she couldn't. However, she kept herself close to me in fear, so my grip on her was only additional reinforcement. I still kept hold of her, figuring it would give her a bit of comfort being close to me incase anything should come after her.

Soul followed behind us both with Yūichi in his arms. It took a good few minutes before Yūichi fell back asleep. I was impressed he could manage as long as he did. I guess he wasn't some weak little kid who would need constant rescuing. After all, he was able to save Natsumi before while barely alive. I was pretty sure at full strength he could be a good help. That didn't exactly mean I would throw him in front of everything that came after us. It was just nice knowing he wasn't totally useless.

In a way, Natsumi wasn't either. She would help us get to Fuyuki again. But as far as I knew she had no fighting skills. That meant a lot more babysitting for us. It would be one thing if she could at least help herself enough to get away from danger, but she couldn't even do that. We'd have to follow her everywhere since there was no telling what exactly Fuyuki's wizard abilities were. He could appear out of no where and kidnap her in the few seconds we might leave her alone for. Then again, for all we know, he might also be after Yūichi. I had no idea where Yūichi came from. He could have escaped Fuyuki's grip on his own and in the process screwed up his soul. But if he was back there at the apartment, I would have sensed his soul like I did Natsumi's.

That's when I realized something. I stopped, turning around and looking back at Yūichi's soul. It was familiar indeed. I had seen it before. It was what I had seen reflecting in the mirror at Fuyuki's place. What the Hell is going on here?

I needed answers to a lot of questions. The only place I could find those answers was with Natsumi, Yūichi, and Fuyuki. I had a hunch however. I believed Yūichi knew more about what was going on than his sister. His fear wasn't normal. Normal fear is a reaction to something frightening, like how Natsumi is. His fear is from instinct. He's not taking any chances due to what he has learned from the past. And that past, was what I wanted to know. My curiosities would have to wait unfortunately. Thankfully by now we had gotten back to our own home. There wouldn't be any time for me to think about this anymore tonight. Now I had to get everything ready for tomorrow.

We all stood at the door while I knocked. It was our own house, but there was one person I knew was there. She was the magic cat Blair. While her magic was of pumpkin origin, she still could do a variety of spells that made life easier. For instance, she could take the form of a human and answer the door.

After a few seconds, the door swung open and Blair made her appearance. She was wearing a nightgown that only came to her mid-thighs. There was no print, only the color of lavender that matched her dark purple hair. She had it put up in a fancy bun, which I thought was odd since she'd be going to bed. But then I remembered cats are nocturnal. Of course she'd be up and active.

"Hello, Blair," I greeted, "Thanks for getting the door."

"No problem. Welcome home, Maka! And new friend! Oh, new friends!" She said, spotting Soul and Yūichi behind me.

I yawned, stepping inside, "So how's home?"

"Completely boring!" She muttered, "Tomorrow's Friday! I can't wait for the weekend when you guys are free to do something fun."

Soul followed me inside, still holding Yūichi. "That may be a problem, Blair. As you can see we have guests."

"Yeah, I see," Blair noted, excitedly going up to Natsumi, "Hi there! My name's Blair!"

Natsumi jumped at the excitement of her shout, tensing up and returning to the shy little girl who I didn't particularly like. I thought she was a much better person than she made herself out to be when it came to first impressions. She seems so shy and timid to the point where she can barely function. But actually, she's quite curious and capable of standing up to scary situations without fainting from anxiety. She just seemed to be picky about when she showed her braver side.

I was fed up with her whiny side for the day. I didn't become a meister to babysit a bratty girl, so the least she could do was make it easier on me. Annoyed, I dragged Natsumi inside towards the living room, feeling a jerk of tension as she hesitated in fear of Blair. Considering the cat wasn't doing anything harmful, I figured I'd just let Natsumi work this one out on her own while I went to prepare sleeping arrangements. I let go of her hand and yanked myself away from her, going back to the back of the apartment to locate our storage bins. With Blair taking the couch for late night movie watching, the only thing we could offer was comfortable bedding on the floor.

I wasn't too worried about either of them being uncomfortable (especially Yūichi who looked like he would sleep on the side of a mountain if he had to) since we had plenty of sleepovers here before and no complaints from folks then. I set up the usual blankets and pillows on the dining room floor, occasionally looking back over at Natsumi who was still under Blair's fire of questions.

Upon me letting go of her hand, she had managed to get herself in a corner between the couch and the wall. Here she kept her arms and legs as close to her body as possible like she was afraid Blair would rip them off. Natsumi was terrified, but that didn't stop the stubborn cat from trying to communicate. She asked question after question ranging from where Natsumi was from to what kind of food she liked. I just ignored them both, wanting to get my work done as soon as possible and go to bed. It was almost midnight by now and I had a long day of studying tomorrow.

In thinking of that, I realized that now with Yūichi in the picture, going to school normally was a bit more difficult. From the looks of his soul, he'd need to sleep for awhile, perhaps even a week. All the while someone would have to keep a close and well-trained eye on him to make sure nothing happened. More specifically, there needs to be someone who can use soul perception to check the condition of his soul. It'd be impossible for me to drag his unconscious body around to all my classes. And then I also didn't want to just take off because I'd be hurting my grade. And then, I decided I would just ask Lord Death myself.

Once I was finished with the beds, I went to the bathroom and used a stick of Blair's lipstick to write Lord Death's number on the mirror above the bathroom sink. _42-42-564 anytime you want him, knock on Death's door._ I sang in my head like a little girl. My reflection then flashed, changing into Lord Death as he stared at me through the glass. After explaining the problem, he told me it would be an acceptable excuse for both Soul and I to stay home for the day.

At first, I protested. I told him I didn't like taking the easy way out and would much rather take on the challenges of the mission and study work. However, Lord Death assured me that my marks and behavior were already outstanding enough for me to take a bit of a break. He made sure to add that while being a good student was great, helping out on missions that save people was even better. I was still unsure, but I knew it wouldn't work any other way. Soul would certainly be happy we had an extra day off for the weekend. I just hope my studies weren't going to be too strenuous that day and I could easily pick up where I left off.

I left the bathroom quickly after closing up my conversation with Lord Death, wiping off the lipstick with a nearby tissue. Once I exited the room, I went over to where Natsumi and Blair were, "You and your brother got yourselves beds now."

"Your friend is quiet," Blair said, looking up at me while Natsumi remained silent.

I shrugged a little, "She'll get used to you."

Blair smiled, "I think I'm already starting to get used to her."

"Well that's a step in the right direction," I replied, adding, "Lord Death just gave me the okay to take off school tomorrow, so we'll be home."

"Thank God!" I heard Soul yell from across the room.

"Hooray! I'll cook some yummy fish for breakfast tomorrow as a celebration!" She exclaimed with a little meow.

I heard Soul gag at the thought, though I personally could stomach the whole salted fish she prepared. I just hope the siblings won't mind either. I doubt Natsumi would, but Yūichi seemed a bit more aggressive and perhaps he would express his distaste. Then again, he might not be able to eat anyway. What am I worrying for?

"Sure," I told Blair, deciding to just go with whatever she wanted, "Anyway, I should be getting Natsumi here ready for bed."

Blair nodded, "You want any help?"

I shook my head, "No, that's fine. She isn't too afraid of me. I better just do this one on my own. But thanks for the offer."

I held out my hand to Natsumi, who looked up at it for a few seconds before eagerly taking it and standing up. She was a little shaken from her encounter with Blair, but could still walk with me to my bedroom. I opened the door and invited her inside. She stood there in the middle of the room, eyeing around the place wondering what to make of it.

I might be well organized in school, but when it came to my room, I could care less. My bed was never made, clothes were scattered around the floor, my school supplies lazily piled up on my desk, and various empty cosmetic containers I had been too preoccupied to even throw out. I was a bit embarrassed, but it was too late to spruce the place up now. Thankfully, Natsumi didn't seem bothered.

"So," I stared off, looking around the room, "You want a shower?"

She blinked, "Um...no thank you..."

"Right then, uh, your clothes."

"What is wrong with them?" She lifted her top up to examine it.

"Isn't it dirty? You might want to change," I suggested, figuring she could temporarily borrow my clothes for the night.

She took the cloth, putting it to her nose and giving it a little sniff, shaking her head as she did, "No, it smells good."

I didn't feel like pushing it, "Okay, but at least brush your hair."

I went over to my nightstand and picked up my hairbrush. I brought it over to Natsumi who stared at it with a hint of disgust. That's when I realized I had a clump of my own hair entangled in the brush spokes. "Sorry. I don't usually share."

She smiled with a giggle, "It's okay."

After picking out the hair and disposing of it, I had her sit on my bed with me. I went behind her and gently combed back her long white hair. I then dragged the brush through each section of hair, pulling out the tangled strands. She had quite a bit of adventure today, so it was only natural she had many knots. When they were too massive to take out in one pull, I would have to hold the hair above it before yanking it out. That way, it wouldn't hurt Natsumi.

The process was taking much longer than I expected. After a few minutes I had only managed to comb out one section of hair. With a sigh, I continued on, still eyeing the clock with annoyance. To relieve the tension and awkward silence, I decided to spark up a conversation. I ended up going with what was on my mind. "You certainly have a lot of hair. It's really pretty though."

"Thanks," She said softly with another blush, "I like it too."

"I'm guessing Y ūichi's not planning on growing his out to this long, right?" I joked, noting how similar both of their hair felt, even though they were styled differently.

She chuckled, "No, he's a boy."

"True. I never thought boys looked good with long hair, hah. Hey, who's younger anyway?" I asked out of random, trying to keep things flowing.

"He is. He's seven and I'm twelve."

"Ah, somehow I figured that," I said, thinking back to the punch he gave Soul, "He seems to be at that age where he acts first and asks questions later."

"Yeah," She laughed, "But he is nice when he's not tired and angry, heh."

"Really? I always thought little brothers like that were annoying, ya know? At least, that's how older sisters I know describe them to me."

"Well, he is _sometimes_," She said with a wink. "But he is also a good brother."

"Where is the 'good brother' part of him?" I teased with a chuckle.

She laughed again, "It hides sometimes."

I patted her head, "I'm just kidding. I think he's a good kid. After all, he jumped out to save you when Soul and I couldn't."

"You think that's why he's sick?" She asked with worry.

I shook my head, "I don't think so. The monster that tried to hurt you couldn't do something like that to him. To be honest, I don't know much about what is wrong with him except that if he sleeps he'll mostly likely get better."

By now I had finished brushing her hair and didn't want to waste anymore time, "And I think you'll be better too if you go to sleep."

"I'm not really tired," She muttered.

I got off the bed, standing her up, "You should at least try."

She looked down a bit, so I pushed her chin up, "Hey, don't worry. I'll keep watch over his soul in my dreams. If something goes wrong, I'll be able to fix it."

She nodded, appearing a little relieved. I took her over to the living room then, showing her the two beds I made for the both of them. I told her she could choose whichever one she wanted since Soul hadn't gotten Yūichi to bed yet for some reason. She eagerly chose the blue themed sheets, then climbed onto the small mattress and wrapped the blankets around herself.

"Very soft!" She exclaimed burying herself in the sheets.

"Good to see you like it," I said with a short laugh.

She turned so she was lying on her back, looking up at me. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Who are you?"

My eyes widened a little. We hadn't really introduced ourselves to her. I guess now was better than never however. "I'm Maka Albarn. I'm a student at the Death Weapon and Meister Academy. And I've been assigned to take care of you and Yūichi."

"Ah, the DWMA," She nodded.

"Yeah. You know about it?"

"Yes," She said with a little nod, "My family in Japan works for it."

I was astonished, "Oh, really? Who are they? Or…well, I guess I wouldn't know. I'm American, but I'd love to go to Japan one day. My mother wrote to me once saying it has some of the prettiest gardens she's ever seen."

"Yeah," She sighed, "Last I remember I was still in Japan, but now I guess I moved."

I narrowed my eyes, "Any idea what might have happened?"

She shook her head, "I really don't…"

"Well don't worry about it," I reassured her, "Just get some sleep and we can figure it all out in the morning, okay?"

She smiled a little, "Okay."

"Goodnight then," I said softly.

She closed her eyes, nestling into her pillow, "See you in the morning."

Only when I was sure Natsumi was really sleeping, did I leave the room. I walked around the house hoping to locate Soul. I found him and Blair with Yūichi lying on the living room carpet. Blair was in cat form nervously eyeing down at the unconscious boy while Soul sat next to her. He appeared more relaxed than she was, though that might have been just because he was too tired to care much.

"You think he's in pain?" Blair asked, looking up at Soul.

Soul shrugged, noticing me, "What do you think, Maka?"

I blinked, "Why ask something like that?"

"He keeps waking up and won't settle properly," replied Soul with a yawn.

"That's probably because he has a fever," I said, "I'll go get some cold medicine from the bathroom cabinet."

"Good idea. Thanks, Maka," Blair meowed with a smile.

"No problem. Soul, you can just head to bed now. I'll take care of this," I told him, figuring he wouldn't need to help anymore.

"Thanks for being cool," He sighed with relief, standing up. "I owe you one."

Soul walked over to me, giving me a light pat on the back before going off towards his own bedroom down the hall. I chuckled, calling after him, "Hey, just remember it'll be your turn tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," He grumbled, closing the door behind him.

I told Blair to keep an eye on Yūichi while I got the medicine. I went back in the bathroom and found the medicine box in the closet. I rummaged through it trying to find some sort of fever reducer. I spotted some cold medicine, but upon picking it up I realized it was for cats. Tossing the bottle back in the box, I searched again until I picked up a small packet of swallow-able pills.

I frowned at this initially, wondering how I could get him to swallow these when he could barely stay awake. But then an idea came over me. I took the medicine and put the box back in the closet. I left the bathroom towards the kitchen and searched around for some sort of soft food, such as applesauce. I did some poking around in the fridge, but couldn't find any. Distraught, I tried locating something else. I glanced over at the sink, figuring I could always just use water. I was hesitant to however. Water was tasteless, which meant Yūichi would taste the medicine as it went down. He could spit it out. But with no other option, it was my best bet.

With my decision made, I got to work on the medicine. I read the directions and popped out two pills. I put them between folds of a napkin and crushed them into powder with a large spoon. It turns out this it not as easy as they say it is. It took a good few swings before the pills even began breaking apart, and even longer to get them into a grainy substance. Even though the process took longer than I expected it still ended up working just fine afterward.

I lifted the napkin to examine my work one last time. I was pleased with the texture and carefully funneled the powder into a tiny cup of water. The medicine floated on top until it absorbed enough water to sink to the bottom. I took a spoon and stirred, turning the water a white murky color.

I hurried back to Yūichi with the cup in hand. I crouched down over him, gently holding up his head as I pushed the lid to his lips. I parted them a little, allowing a small drop of liquid to pour down to his mouth. He stirred at bit, and then opened his mouth enough for me to dump the mixture inside. I quickly put my hand over his mouth, pleading that he wouldn't spit it out. I felt him gag a little, making me practically shout, "No!"

But it was only a false alarm. I sighed with relief when I heard him gulp it down. I took my hand away from his mouth and laid his head back down. His eyes briefly opened up in curiosity, but he closed them again soon after. Blair let out a soft meow before morphing to her human form, "Thanks again, Maka."

"No worries," I said, standing up with a stretch, "It said on the label it may cause drowsiness, but I don't think this will be a problem."

She laughed, "Actually I think it'll be better the drowsier he is."

"True," I chuckled.

"You go on to bed then," She said, "I can take care of him from here."

"Really?" I yawned with relief, "Thanks so much, Blair."

"Sure. Anything for my roommate and friend," She winked.

I didn't need anymore encouragement. By now I was so tired I was ecstatic about not having school tomorrow. I had every right to have the day off. It was just my stupid obsessive mind that made me feel bad about it. Maybe this was a sign I should relax more often. It felt good not being under pressure for once.

I went to my room with a calm mind, easing into my bed sheets and pillows. I wasn't sure if I had properly changed or not, but at the moment I didn't care. Everything was done and now all I had to do was fall asleep. I lay there, staring at my dark wall in the night. I thought about how I ended up in this situation. It was certainly weird having two random children dropped on you. I guess it was just part of the job though. I didn't think much on it after this because I ended up closing my eyes and drifting into the depths of sleep.

**IT'S DONE! Oh gawd, I hated editing through this chapter. It was horrible! I wonder how I could have thought it was okay in the first draft! I actually ended up having to rewrite the whole thing. LOL But enough of my exploding, it is here and finished for you lovely readers~**

**I hope you didn't fall asleep halfway through reading this. (Kuro and I did while editting. lul) I highly recommend reading this chapter if you're trying to go to sleep. XD This kind of starts the first filler chapter section. For those who don't know my writing terms, a filler chapter is a chapter that doesn't contain any action. D: That doesn't mean it's useless though as these are usually parts I put character or plot development as well as red herrings. (You: Wut? :O)**

**Anyway, enough of all the explanation about why I write things. Next chapter is titled "Unexpected Morning". :D Remember you can PM a guess if you want. ^-^**


	7. Chapter 6

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 6: Unexpected Morning**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma and FailScribe**

**Hooray! The accent mark on Yūichi's name shows up on the site! 8D**

**Anywhos, this is about all the OCs I have for this FF. I think there's like maybe one or two more I'll throw in, but they're not very important. So yeah, you got these three! 8D To celebrate their introductions, I've decided to have a contest. To enter, all you have to do is leave a review. In that review, you should copy and paste the question quiz I put in the Ending Author's Note. Whoever gets the most correct by the end of the month wins fan art drawn by me at their request. ;D**

**I do hope you enjoy the story though. And I thank you so much for taking the time to read~ 3**

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my alarm. I jumped out of sleep and sat right up because I had been having a nightmare. I sat there wide eyed for a bit before reaching over and tapping my alarm. Sighing deeply with a shiver, I lied back down and closed my eyes to try and forget the nightmare I had. I couldn't remember the details now, but one image that stuck in my mind was a dead girl with black hair and decayed flesh staring right at me with rolled back eyes. I kept my eyes closed, scratching an itch on my side. That was when I noticed I miraculously changed into my pajamas while half-asleep. At least I had some sanity last night.

As my thoughts touched the idea of last night, my eyes opened to stare at the pale ceiling. Last night I invited random children to stay in my house. I must have been really tired because I have no idea how I could have taken on the responsibility without at least fighting a little. But it was too late to worry about it now. Whether I had a clear mind now or not, I was stuck with them.

It wasn't that I hated them, or that I wanted them gone. It just felt odd having them here. I couldn't figure out why though. They hadn't done anything wrong. They were just victims of Fuyuki's antics. I told this to myself over and over, but my gut kept me feeling anxious about them. I then tried thinking of the worse case scenario and ended up forming something along the lines of Natsumi and Yūichi being Fuyuki's servants who were waiting to kill us in our sleep. Since that sounded completely ridicules, I explained to myself that there was nothing to fear. Thankfully my mind eventually cleared up of all worry; right when I found I could not go back to sleep.

Now fully awake and angry with my mind, I threw the covers off my body. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes and grumbling to myself. I glanced over at my alarm clock to find it to be around six in the morning. Upon seeing this, I rolled my eyes and got out of bed. I felt a bit dizzy when I stood, but a good stretch fixed that just fine. I yawned afterwards and stared around my room that needed cleaned.

Since I had woken up pretty early, the whole house was silent. I assumed no one would mind if I took a few moments to straighten up the mess. I was still pretty embarrassed about revealing my neglect to Natsumi though. She probably thinks I'm a slob now. Once I began putting things where they belonged however, I felt better about the situation. If I truly had been a slob, I would not have been able to clean it as well as I did. All it needed was a bit of reorganizing and some trash taken out. After I collected up all the garbage, I quietly opened my bedroom door and walked out to the hallway.

I went out to the dining room to briefly check on Natsumi and Yūichi. To my relief, they were both still sleeping peacefully. Even better was that Yūichi's soul was calm and not weak. He didn't have a fever either, which meant there was no need for me to give him another dose of medicine via cup of water. Granted, he wasn't perfect, but he was far enough out of the woods that I didn't need to worry.

With my concerns out of the way, I went to the kitchen and threw out my trash in the big bag we had under the sink. By now it was about 7:30 so Blair had gone to sleep and I was still the only one up. It didn't bother me much. I just went on making breakfast for everyone in the house as usual. Or at least it would be the usual if you excluded the two children and all.

I was in the middle of frying my eggs for my sandwich when Soul came into the kitchen with a yawn. We exchanged our "good mornings" and I asked why he was up so early since normally he'd sleep till noon on days off. He simply shrugged. "I just woke up because I wanted to. Couldn't go back to bed."

"Same. I had this freaky nightmare." I sighed, putting the scrambled eggs between two toasted bagels and taking a bite.

Soul went toward the refrigerator and took out a small milk carton. "I assume it wasn't the cool freaky dream then."

He took a sip of the white milk and I replied, "No way. Definitely gave me chills."

"Just your luck then, heh." He gulped down some more milk before putting back the carton and gazing at the inside of the fridge. He shook his head. "How are we supposed to feed them? We got nothing kid friendly in here."

"You say that like were stashing vodka and illegal substances in our refrigerator," I said raising my eyebrow while taking another bite of my sandwich.

Soul laughed, shutting the door. "No, duh. But how old are these two? I mean we don't even have animal crackers, fun fruit snacks, or whatever they're called."

I shook my head. "They aren't three. They're twelve and seven, jeeze. Come on, don't you know anything about children?"

"I'm a cool guy. I don't usually babysit." He shrugged.

"Neither do I, but the way I figure it we've taken down the Kishin before so watching some kids shouldn't be any problem, eh?"

Soul nodded, "Yeah, but it's still a bit overwhelming."

I didn't think it would be that bad. "It's not like this is unbearable. They're not much to deal with. Just make sure they're fed, clothed, and get sleep."

"I guess you're right about that. Although, the incident last night made me want to forcibly knock the kid out."

"That was going to be plan B." I said with a laugh to indicate I was joking.

He chuckled a bit at that, and then went to say something, but was interrupted once he caught Natsumi standing in the kitchen doorway. "Morning. You hungry?"

She nodded. "Yes, mister."

He blinked. "Mister?"

"You never introduced yourself, Soul." I rolled my eyes finishing the last of my egg sandwich.

"It's no problem." Natsumi said softly. "I did not ask before."

"Just call me Soul. I'm Maka's cool scythe weapon." He grinned, flexing one of his arms to show off.

"Oh, you! I love your weapon's look…erm, Maka is correct?" Natsumi stopped short and I confirmed she had gotten my name correct. "And your attacks are very strong. I have to say, sometimes when you fight I feel scared you will get hurt or killed. But now I know you a little and I don't think that will happen."

"Why thank you." I said happily, soaking in her compliment.

Soul grinned. "That's because we're the cool ones in the group."

She giggled and then gasped in realization. "I must introduce myself too! I'm Natsumi Konda. I'm the daughter of Patricia and Kazuki Konda. Oh, and I'm a twin-bladed, close range sword weapon, or one of them I guess."

"You also seem to know your weapons quite well." Soul commented.

"Not at all." She admitted. "I just repeat what someone told a long time ago, heh."

"Does that mean you have no idea what you just said?" I asked, kind of curious myself.

"I am not sure." She laughed, blushing a bit.

We all heard a sizzle and I spotted the bacon I had been cooking on the stove. It was frying to the point of being charred black. Soul raced over there way before I could, yelling out several curses as he turned down the heat. He then stuck the pan under water so the bacon remains wouldn't catch on fire. Steam mixed with smoke rose towards the ceiling and began clouding the air in the kitchen. Amazingly, our fire alarm didn't go off, but the commotion caused Blair to wake up. She stuck her head into the kitchen, looking around in confusion and sleepiness before seeing what had happened. Thankfully, by the time she got here the issue had already been resolved.

I wasn't sure where Natsumi had gotten to, but somehow Blair managed to find her before me. This resulted in Natsumi crawling back into her shell of shyness while Blair talked her ear off about the day. I have no idea why the cat was like this around guests. I can understand she would be excited to have a new person come into the house, but for people like Natsumi, this must be living Hell. As much as I wanted to just let Natsumi defend for herself, my heart forced me to do something about it this time.

I went over to the trembling girl and pulled her to her feet, "I'm taking her to get a shower and dressed. You two can finish breakfast, right?"

"Of course, Maka," Blair told me, running over to Soul to help him fix his mess with the bacon.

Natsumi blinked in surprise as I dragged her over to the bathroom, shoving her in and telling her to shower. While I left her to that, I went to my room and grabbed some of my own clothes for her to wear. I picked out a simple, white and thin blouse I had lost interest in wearing in more recent years. Along with that, I grabbed a pair of black, skinny jeans with a few holes in them, but nothing too major. Underwear would be a problem, but after thinking on it for a bit I decided letting her wear what she had on now until I could go shopping for more. I went back to the bathroom and waited a little bit for Natsumi to be done. As soon as she was, I handed her the clothes through the crack in the door.

"You like those?" I asked, figuring she should have a say in what she wears.

There was a short silence from her likely looking them over before she replied, "Yes, I like the top best."

"You can have it if you want," I told her, "I don't really want it anymore."

"Really? Thank you!" I heard her exclaim in happiness.

"You're welcome."

Once she reappeared from the bathroom, I noticed her hair was wet and in a mess from bed-head and shower water. I politely asked if she wanted me to blow dry and brush out her hair, to which she agreed to. I went past her into the bathroom then, searching around in the closet for the household blow dryer. I had Natsumi sit on the toilet as I began brushing out her hair. It soon became apparent this would not be a five minute long task. Natsumi's hair was even more of a handful when knotted and wet, something I wasn't expecting when I offered to help her out.

With all my concentration on getting her hair perfectly strait, I noticed we both had gone silent. I began trying to think of things to talk about, but all the topics I seemed to come up with were either too personal or something she'd never be interested in. Okay, so maybe there was the off chance she would be intrigued about the DWMA academy, but she was still young. The thought of school would probably make her as shy and introverted as Blair did. Then again, I really haven't known her for very long and that theory could be wrong. Who knows, she might even think of school as if it were Disney Land.

I decided to go for it. "You want to see the academy some time?"

"Huh?" She titled her head up slightly. "Sure. It looks very big. I want to see how everyone is not lost all the time."

I chuckled. "When it was my first year, I got lost just about everyday; and then the year after too because my classes changed to different areas. Actually, at the beginning of each year I get lost a bit in the first week, heh."

"I think you are still better than me." She giggled just as I finished combing out her hair. Now to blow dry it.

"Natsumi, why do you have so much hair?" I asked as a joke.

"Aw, I'm sorry. I can cut it."

"No, it's okay. It's your hair you can do what you want with it. And I don't mind getting to brush it everyday and night."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. It's pretty anyway," I told her, running the blow dryer through her hair causing each strand to blossom in volume.

"That's good. I like it too." She smiled, looking happily at the side of dried hair I had already finished with.

I continued drying the rest of her hair. I imagined the style was a pain for her to manage and drag around, but it did make her appear quite elegant. I guess beauty was pain. I never took this to heart myself. The farthest I went with beauty was the occasional make-up for a night out. But other than that, I could really care less what I looked like, especially when it came to the battlefield.

I spoke directly to her. "If you want to cut it, then just go ahead and do so. Don't worry about what it'll look like or whatever. It's much more comfortable with short hair anyway."

"I know." She said with a nod. "But when I have long hair I am happy."

I felt a sudden fatigue. Not just physically, but like all my feelings fell out of my brain. I stopped blow drying for a second to regain my composure. Good Lord I wanted to pass out and die to escape my life. I didn't care about anyone or anything. I saw no hope in my actions. My chest felt heavy with sorrow I didn't know the origin of. Reluctantly though I continued on with my work, hoping the feeling would go away. _What is this?_

That thought snapped me out of it. I took a deep breath and glanced around the room to find some sense for myself. Natsumi didn't seem to notice what was happening and just looked down at her lap while she played with her hands. I shook my head to further bring myself back from that terrible state of mind. However I now had to know what the cause of it was. I then thought, maybe it's because I am starting to not care about things like I used to. I wonder if that means I am becoming more experienced and stronger then. After all, I've seen in movies how the powerful and experienced warrior is always numb in the face of horrible dangers and tragedies. Oh great, now I'm using pop culture as my scale for how sick I am.

When I finished with Natsumi's hair, I politely let her go off to eat breakfast while I went to my room to get dressed and attempt to get my head on straight. I walked inside and threw on some clothes before flopping down on my bed. I faced up at the ceiling with my dull, green eyes. I was quiet, but thoughts inside my mind were racing like a stampede. Desperately, I needed to find out what was wrong with my mind and spirit.

The possibility of my soul malfunctioning crossed my mind. But if that were the case, I would be physically sick too, much like Y ūichi was. It had to be the way I was thinking then. I wanted to know what was happening to me and if it was good or bad. I didn't care who I asked, I just had to know. But that feeling needed to be suppressed to some extent. I wasn't sure if I could tell Soul because I doubted he'd understand let alone be able to help. Then I remembered that during my conversation with Lord Death last night, I had asked him to send Nygus, the academy nurse, over here once she got back from being out of town. It was originally to check on Yūichi, but now I am thinking she could help me as well. It was certainly worth a shot anyway.

I looked over at the clock to find I had only been thinking for about fifteen minutes. As much as I wanted to think it over some more, I knew it wouldn't help much and figured I better just move on as best as I could. If Nygus could help, then maybe she could explain it to Soul too and then we'd still be a good team when I came out of this. If there was any cure that is.

With my depression still lingering, I went out to face the rest of the house as they ate their breakfast. I was kind of looking forward to food in hope it might cheer me up a bit. Soul and Blair were serving Natsumi a plate when I arrived at the table. I casually looked at Natsumi's plate and saw sunny side-up eggs. I was also pleased to see the bacon next the eggs was not burnt, but well-cooked. In the middle of the table there was a fruit salad with two pitchers; one with milk and the other with orange juice.

Impressed with the presentation, I opted to take a plate from the kitchen and take a little bit of the eggs and bacon even though I had eaten a sandwich beforehand. With the smell of fresh breakfast nearby, I hurried back to the table to take some fruit and start eating. A bite of fresh strawberry brought my senses back to life. I smiled as I chewed, leaning back in my chair with my mind at ease. I think the reason I was feeling out of touch was just because I was hungry and needed energy. The fight from before required me to leave my soul vulnerable in order to get into Natsumi's, therefore my whole body probably went out of balance just from that. At least, that was what made sense in my mind. I could care less about the details. All I knew was that the food made me feel much better.

"Delicious!" I exclaimed after taking a bit of egg to find the surprising taste of onion and garlic. "You like it, Natsumi?"

"Most certainly, yes!" She grinned, eating a piece of watermelon.

At that moment, Soul and Blair decided to join us with their own plates. Both of them agreed with Natsumi and I on the food's condition.

"Wow, I thought the garlic would be a bad addition, but it's…" Soul said with a bit of astonishment in his voice.

Blair laughed. "See, just think about that next time you doubt me."

"Hey, don't start that just yet. You have to build up a little more reputation than this, ya know." He told her, crossing his arms in irritation.

"Whatever, Soul, my sweetie!" She winked towards him, showing off her large breasts.

He tried to look away, hiding a nosebleed with his sleeve. "We have children now! Oh wait, speaking of that. Hey Maka, what about her brother?"

"What about him?" I asked, my thoughts interrupted.

"Well." Soul looked over at the sleeping boy, "Think he's hungry?"

I thought for a moment. "Probably, but I think he needs sleep more right now. His body will wake him up if he gets hungry enough."

"That's what I was thinking too," He began, swallowing down a piece of bacon before continuing. "But then I thought about how he couldn't sleep last night. Think it's because he's hungry?"

"That," I paused, going over that thought in my mind, "Might actually be a good point. But wasn't it because of a fever?"

Aiyuki gave a short gasp. "Yūichi? Fever? Sick?"

"He's okay. Don't worry," I reassured her, but she still seemed concerned. I smiled at her and touched her shoulder gently. "I'll go wake him up and see if he wants anything to eat. Maybe he'll get better quicker then."

I finished up the rest of my mini-meal and brought my plate to the sink. Once I washed off my hands, I went over to Yūichi, feeling his forehead. His fever had gone down a bit and I could feel his soul was a lot brighter than it was even in the early morning. I figured even if he was tired, he could easily just go back to bed after eating at least enough so he wouldn't starve in his sleep. I first tapped him lightly on the cheek, telling him to wake up. But he didn't rise, only sinking into the pillow more and hugging the blankets closer. I lightly shook him by the shoulder then, seeing his dark blue eyes open in response. He didn't move much, only looking up at me with a fatigued groan.

"Sorry," I practically whispered so I wouldn't sound rash, "Are you hungry? We have food. Your sister is eating."

I figured adding in the last bit would give him that extra bit of encouragement, but he only sighed, turning to go back to sleep. Great, now we would be having problems getting him to wake up. This kid was starting to be a pain. I think he might even be more of a handful than his sister.

I decided to try waking him just one more time before completely giving up. I shook him once more, turning him back to face me. He groaned again, getting more annoyed now, but I didn't care. I told him once more and this time I added that it would be in his best interest to have a little of something to eat and then go back to sleep.

With much reluctance, he opened his eyes and spoke in a dull tone, "What do you have to eat?"

**Insert my stupid ending here! Yeah, kind of a strange place to stop, but if I would have gone on it would have been a whole lot longer. Anyway, this kind of starts off the "slice-of-life" and "character development" section of the story. Not much will be happening during the next few chapters, but that doesn't mean it'll be boring for you all to sit through. Okay, well, it won't be as exciting as a battle scene, but yeah…**

**As to why I am having a "slice-of-life" section. It's because I have a big thing against exposition and action mixing together. You ever see a fight scene where both sides are saying or thinking about their lives or past like they should be for when there is the "slice-of-life" section? That is not what I want do.**

**Just relax and enjoy the moment of peace. Because once this thing gets thrown into the heat of conflict, I don't think it's going to stop. Ay…**

**Next chapter is going to be called "Open Eyes".**

**Random Note: When I first wrote the draft for this in Thailand, I was like really involved in my Thai life. I seriously had to think what the usual "American breakfast" was. LMAO**

**And here is the lovely contest quiz! You will not know any of these, I guarantee it. More just a way to share because the OCs in here went through so many changes that it's kind of funny looking back. So give them your best guess! Whoever gets the most correct by the end of the month gets fan art from yours truly~**

**Hint: All of the correct answers are the extreme ones.**

**~Contest Quiz~**

**In the original role-play where I first used Natsumi, where was she discovered by the other characters?**

**A: Asleep in a coffin in a mansion**

**B: A cave**

**C: In a forest in Japan**

**D: In the DWMA attic**

**Which anime character inspired Natsumi's initial design?**

**A: Rika Furude (When They Cry)**

**B: Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)**

**C: Chii (Chobits)**

**D: Miku Hatsune (Vocaloid)**

**What was Fuyuki's original name before I changed it?**

**A: Yūichi**

**B: Hashi**

**C: Jūshiro**

**D: Yuki**

**What used to make Natsumi's hair special before I got rid of it?**

**A: It was long enough to drag on the floor**

**B: If one touched it, they would freeze**

**C: It couldn't be cut**

**D: Yūichi loved it and so she never cut it**

**What feature did Yūichi used to have on his body?**

**A: A scar on his cheek**

**B: Two different colored eyes; one red and one blue**

**C: Fanged teeth**

**D: A tattoo of a number code on his wrist**

**What was Natsumi and Yūichi's relationship like in the past?**

**A: They were lovers who happened to look alike**

**B: They were siblings that had borderline incest**

**C: Strictly weapon and meister, nothing else**

**D: They were siblings and annoyed each other sometimes**

**Where did I get the idea to make Fuyuki a villain?**

**A: Listening to a song about stalking and rape**

**B: Watching Ashura be an awesome villain**

**C: Discovering Twilight**

**D: Someone at school said he'd make a good bad guy**

**What is the order they were created in?**

**A: Fuyuki, Natsumi, and then Yūichi**

**B: Yūichi, Natsumi, and then Fuyuki**

**C: Yūichi, Fuyuki, and then Natsumi**

**D: Natsumi, Fuyuki, and then Yūichi**

**What used to be the tragic past of Yūichi?**

**A: He was abandoned by his parents**

**B: He watched Natsumi die slowly**

**C: He was a weapon slave to a ruthless meister**

**D: People were scared and avoided him**

**Which species was Fuyuki originally?**

**A: A witch**

**B: A dragon**

**C: A human**

**D: A meister**


	8. Chapter 7

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 7: Open Eyes**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma and FailScribe**

**Kyaaahhhhh! Chapter 7! I'm so happy I got this far. Okay, well I realize I have all the chapters prewritten and everything, but for me this is an accomplishment that I must post here right while I'm typing it up for the first time.**

**Interesting how I go back and see my old ANs… LMAO Sorry this chapter is seriously late. I just graduated and I had the honor as Valedictorian so I had to spend a week making a long-ass speech. Then I had to make a speech for my SGI Buddhist meeting. :/ Thus, you can probably guess where my creativity went…**

**UPDATE: I recently figured out how to make the star between the Black and Star in BlackStar's name. BUT Fanfiction won't let it show up, so shit… . Until the day it is acceptable, I will continue to spell BlackStar as one word. XD**

**UPDATE 2: The fabulous Kurochi Akuma gave me some artwork to put on the cover of this FF! 8DD *huggles Kuro forever* Thankies~**

**This chapter was a pain to edit and write, so feel free to lemme know it's terrible. ;A;**

**Anywhos, enjoy the chapter and I hope you'll continue to read!**

"We have eggs, bacon, and fruit all ready to eat. It's really good too," I told Yūichi, giving him a pat on the head.

He slowly sat up, his body shaking from the weak soul. "My stomach hurts."

"Probably because you haven't eaten," I explained to him, keeping my senses on his soul just incase.

"I guess," He grumbled, trying to stand up, but his legs didn't seem to have enough strength to support him.

I decided to pick him up and take him over to the table, sitting him down in my empty chair. Natsumi smiled at him while Blair went to the kitchen and got him his own plate of food. Yūichi turned to Natsumi and began talking in Japanese. I didn't know what they were saying, but being around Tsubaki meant I had a general idea of what the language sounded like. Plus, I knew they were both from Japan, so what other language could they be speaking?

"You should talk in English! It's rude if you talk Japanese because they cannot understand," scolded Natsumi.

"Sorry, I forgot." He said apologetically then translated what he said before into English, "Who are these people?"

"I'm Maka Albarn," I said first, interrupting their conversation and causing them both to look at me.

Natsumi nodded. "Yes. And the man is Soul."

Yūichi raised an eyebrow towards Soul. "Interesting name."

"I quite like it myself," Soul said with a smirk, showing off his pointed teeth. "I'm also Maka's scythe weapon."

"So," Yūichi's attention turned to me, "She's your meister then."

"Exactly," I said, nodding with a grin.

Blair came back with the plate of food. She smiled and held her hands up like a begging cat. "And I'm Blair the magical kitty cat! Meow!"

Unlike his sister, Yūichi was curious about Blair. "A magic cat? What do you mean?"

"Let's see. Hmm, in a short story? Well when I was little I was very smart and wanted to learn magic, so I did!" She winked at Yūichi and he blinked back.

"That's some answer," Soul commented, taking a drink of his milk.

Yūichi silently nodded in agreement, starting to eat little pieces of the egg like he was trying to relearn how to eat. I was glad I didn't have to tell him to eat slow and take small bites. Though once he seemed to get used to the taste, he began to eat a bit quicker. It was still alright; however, because he was just about finished. Thankful I didn't have to lecture him on food, I handed him a glass of water, figuring it'd be easier to digest than milk or juice. To my surprise, he took it from my hand, quickly gulping it down without stopping to even breathe.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted, making him stop drinking, "Don't drink so fast or you'll puke. Drink the water just like how you were eating your food."

He looked angry for a moment, but then nodded hurriedly and drank once more, slowing down despite the urge to do otherwise. I understood how he felt. Once I had caught a horrible case of the flu and was always thirsty. Anytime I got a chance to drink, I always gulped it down like I had been stuck in a desert for weeks. This only proved to be my downfall though, for the severe vomiting that occurred afterward was about as worse as the extreme thirst itself. That is why I tell everybody this now. I certainly don't want anybody I know to learn the hard way like I did.

When he asked for more, I gladly gave him some. Again, I made sure he drank it properly. The food and water seemed to do a wonder of improvements for him. I could feel his soul begin to get stronger and he had stopped shaking.

"You drink so much, Yūichi," Natsumi said with a giggle, watching her brother accept a fourth cup of water.

He ignored her, sipping down the water ever so carefully, eyeing my cautious gaze. The fourth cup turned out to be his last and I took it from him to go wash in the sink. Soul and Blair had taken the initiative and begun cleaning up the table. I figured now that Yūichi was up and able to move, he should go get a shower and get changed. It was then realization hit me. Yūichi didn't have any clothes to change into, which was part of the reason he went to bed with his clothes on anyway.

Soul did have some extra clothes he could give him, but Yūichi would definitely be too small for them. As unfortunate as it might be, Natsumi and I were around the same size; therefore getting her temporary clothes would be no problem. We'd have to go out and buy some for Yūichi though. He was wearing pajamas, like Natsumi was when we first met and therefore didn't have anything to wear outside. At least two outfits and an extra pair of pajamas for both of them should be fine, just until we got some extra money.

Even though I wasn't sure how long they'd be staying with us, I wanted to prepare for the immediate concerns as much as possible. With that being said, I doubted Yūichi could be taken out in the condition he was in. I didn't own measuring tape either, which meant finding the right size could be tricky. After all, he was likely used to the clothes in Japan, so even if he did know his own size, it would still be a problem.

Perhaps his sister would know about what his size and such were. "You want to go shopping today, Natsumi?"

"Yes, please!" She exclaimed, standing up at the table.

"Huh?" Yūichi looked at her with surprise. "I want to go too."

I was in disbelief. "You can't even stand, Yūichi."

He responded by pushing back the chair and setting both his feet on the ground, holding up his body. Before I could comment on anything else, he walked up to me like a normal boy would. Or at least he tried to. There was an obvious jittering in his muscles that caused him to limp. He came to a stop just in front of me, smiling proudly. I wasn't convinced however.

"We're probably going to be awhile," I told him, trying to avoid conflict by telling him no twice.

"I don't care. I can go," He said with determination.

"Yeah," Natsumi jumped in suddenly. "He'll be okay, Maka. Besides, I don't want to go out alone."

She wasn't going to be alone, but whatever. "I understand that, but I don't want him harming himself."

"He'll tell you when he's tired!" She insisted, looking to Yūichi as though telling him that he better do just that.

"Oh, sure he will." I said, noticing their silent scheme.

Yūichi bowed his head. "I will. I promise."

I sighed. "I would prefer if you went too, but I don't want to risk it. Plus, you have no clothes to go out in. You cannot go in those pajamas."

"But…!" He tried to protest only to run out of convincing reasons.

I smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry. We'll be back shortly. In the meantime, you should take a bath and get some rest. Okay?"

Yūichi still frowned in disapproval, crossing his arms. Hesitating a bit, I told him to get a move on. He still refused to budge. Shaking his head back and forth, he said, "No bath."

"Yūichi, you have to take a bath." I looked down at him sternly.

He shook his head. "No thank you."

I sighed. "Okay, you don't have to take one for very long; just enough so you won't stink up the whole place."

"No." He muttered, taking a step away from me.

I had enough. I grabbed him by the wrist and began dragging him towards the bathroom. "Don't test me like this. I have no patience."

Pure fright light up in his face as he pulled back, letting out a squeal, "No! No! I don't want to! Please let me go"

I dropped his wrist in shock and stared back at him. "Good Lord. What's the matter? You're acting like I'm about to douse you with acid."

I noticed Natsumi's hand go up as a way to get my attention. "Um, Maka…"

"Can you help me out here?" I asked her. Maybe she would know what was going on and how to solve the problem.

"Well…uh…" She pondered for the words. "He does not like water."

"Doesn't…like…water?" I repeated with confusion.

"Um, maybe, not really." She said, "He is afraid of water."

I eyed Yūichi in disbelief. "Why is he so afraid of water?"

She shrugged. "He just is, maybe."

Yūichi stared down at the floor, hugging his chest timidly. His legs began to quiver again. I sighed and smiled at him. "I'm sorry. I won't make you if you're scared."

He slowly looked back up at me. "Okay."

I bit my lower lip. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to get clean somehow. Natsumi, what do you normally do at your house?"

"Showers are okay," She replied with a soft smile.

"Oh. That's convenient."

"Pools of water are what he does not like," She added for clarification.

I was glad the solution was that simple. I made a mental note to avoid mentioning bath around him in the future. I held my hand out to Yūichi. "You okay now? I told you I'm sorry and I'll let you take a shower instead."

He nodded. "Thank you."

After giving Yūichi instructions on how to operate our shower, I gave him a towel and told him to cover himself up with it until he was dry. While he showered, I got Natsumi ready to go out. I dug through the recesses of my closet to find a pair of white sandals. They would be a little big for her, but with the "No shoes, No shirt, No service" rule they would have to do.

I briefly checked the status of my bank account online and sighed with relief that my father transferred over his weekly contribution early. Even though the school would cover the costs of keeping the two, I would have to initially buy them stuff before I could get reimbursed. Perhaps Spirit had heard about this and that was why I now had some extra money. I didn't bother looking into it nor calling my dad to ask since I had other things to do besides talking to my estranged father.

Yūichi came out of the shower right as we were about to leave. The large towel covered up his whole body like an extra outfit, which looked comical. He noticed our presence, but didn't refer to us otherwise even when I announced to everyone that we would be back soon. I wasn't going to take the attitude seriously since he was obviously younger and didn't have common sense yet. So I decided I would just leave him there with Blair and Soul, hoping he would be over it when I got back.

Natsumi seemed a bit concerned; however her mood brightened up once she saw the city. We had come this way last night with all the shops closed and everything dark. Now there were many people, shops were busy, children ran around, and there was a cheery atmosphere to it. Natsumi beamed at everything. I made sure to keep hold of her hand just in case she decided to wander off again. I could easily lose her in this kind of crowd. Luckily the memories of the dragon kept Natsumi from pulling away from my grip. I felt her body twitch excitedly at lively street performers who were out doing business.

We walked past a man who could be as still as a statue and pretended he was sitting on an invisible chair. She took special interest in this man, gasping aloud when he fell back off the non-existent chair and then froze in motion. I let her give him a dollar and she shyly went over to the upside down hat he had nearby to put the bill in. I saw the man give her a wink, but she rushed back to me too quickly to notice.

With my good deed done for the day, I hurried Natsumi along quicker so we could get to the shopping center a few blocks down. As soon as we got into the store, I marched right to the children's clothes. I kept telling myself to only buy a few outfits and that even if Natsumi threw a tantrum I needed to keep the bill down. I tried making my life easier by avoiding the baked goods store at the front. Unfortunately, I had forgotten there was a toy section right before the children's clothing section. God, I fucking hate it when corporations make my life difficult.

I was about to get out of the woods until I heard Natsumi say, "Oh, I like this."

She picked up a stuffed teddy bear holding a giant heart in its paws. The bear was made of a violet, silky fabric and had black buttons for eyes. She held it close to her chest and hugged it sweetly with a giggle. I quickly checked the price to decide how badly I wanted to fight for this. $12.50. Well shit.

"Yeah, he's cute." I smiled falsely, "How about you put him back and we'll go find some more bears later?"

She shook her head. "Can we get it for Yūichi?"

"To be honest, I don't think he'd like bears very much." I told her.

She protested further. "No, he will like it. I know!"

I was losing ground. "Okay, we can go find something else later."

_Just get to the fucking clothing department and you'll forget all about it._ Is what I wanted to say.

"I like this for him." She told me defiantly, "Only this."

Inside; I was about to rip the bear out of her arms. Outside; I smiled sweetly. "I'll come back and buy it later. I promise."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay."

She put the bear back to my relief. I hurried out of that spot before she saw anything else to tempt her child mind. Once in the clothing department, I brought Natsumi over to the little girls' section. She fancied a white sun dress with a light pink bow on the chest. Even though it was expensive, I still decided to get it since it was something I intended to spend money on anyway. She picked out two other outfits (casual clothes and pajamas) and a pair of sneakers that lit up when she walked. I didn't think it was necessary to buy coats since it was soon going to be spring.

After we were done shopping for her, I proceeded toward the boys' section. "You know what Yūichi likes so can you help me shop for him?"

"Yes, Maka." She replied happily.

I stopped just before getting there and took a detour since I realized I forgot to get them underwear. The undergarments section for children was coed and nearby thankfully. I asked Natsumi if she usually wore bras at home and she said she had not yet. I internally screamed with joy since that would be one less thing I'd have to pay for. With the socks and underpants in my arms, it was getting to be too much to carry. Taking yet another detour, I quickly got a basket to carry all the clothing in.

Now that I was back on track, I went to the boys' section with Natsumi to finish up the shopping. Luckily for me, Natsumi not only knew what her brother liked, but also what size he took. Granted, I had to explain to her the sizes weren't exactly like Japanese ones; however she could tell just by looking at clothes as to whether they would fit him or not.

The total bill turned out to be just below the extra amount I got from my dad this morning. I internally shouted, "Fuck yeah, I'm boss!" Like I predicted before, Natsumi forgot about buying the teddy bear, which made me feel even better about the whole experience. All and all it was a pretty good trip. Natsumi was a pretty good kid even if there was that small incident at the toy section. I learned a lot about her too.

Apparently she was only half-Japanese. Her mother was American and her father was Japanese. In their household, both English and Japanese were spoken. Natsumi did however tell me that Japanese was easier for her since she grew up in Japan. She also said she had been to the United States before, just for family visits though. The rest of her mother's family lived in Washington state way, way North of Nevada. When I asked if we could contact those relatives about where she and Yūichi were, she explained her mother's side didn't know about the DWMA and wouldn't understand. _Well that freaking sucks._ Additionally though, I learned that the academy is called the Shibusen in Japan. It might just be trivia I will likely never use, but I found it interesting anyway.

Natsumi was a fun little girl indeed. The more I found out, the more concerned I became though. Her family in Japan had great connections with the academy, which made me wonder why no one was reaching out to find them both. I understood it took a lot of time to get things organized, but still. I feel like there should at least be a sign of someone out there looking for Natsumi and Yūichi. I definitely needed to speak with Nygus about this when she came back from being out of town. I would go to Lord Death, but Nygus was supposed to be coming by to check on Yūichi. Thus, I'd figured I should kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I wanted to ask what happened to her and how they both ended up in being captured by a wizard. Unfortunately, anytime I tried to bring it up, Natsumi would pretend not to hear me or become distracted. I was glad she trusted me enough to talk about her basic family and lifestyle. When it came to the actual events that lead us both together however, she didn't dare say anything about it. I was getting somewhere though.

We left the shopping center and walked back through the streets toward home. This time the novelty of the place had worn off and Natsumi seemed tired too. Due to both these circumstances, we got back home before I knew it. I walked in to find Soul watching television in the living room. Holding up the shopping bags, I proudly exclaimed, "I made it through the day!"

"Good for you," Was all Soul replied with, concentrating on an episode of Lost.

I didn't bother him further and went to organize my purchases. I went in the dining room to see Yūichi dead asleep and his soul happily relaxed, regaining energy slowly. Putting my bags on the table, I began going through all the clothes I brought. Natsumi came up next to me and I gave her a pile of the clothes she wanted, telling her to put it in my room. I figured I'd store Natsumi's clothes in my room and Yūichi's could be in Soul's. I called over to Soul, "Hey, put these away in your room."

He turned and I held up the pile of clothes for Yūichi to show him. He nodded and went back to watching television as if nothing happened. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and walked over to the couch dropping the clothes in his lap. "Now, before you forget."

"Yes, mother." He groaned in disbelief and irritation before hurriedly putting the clothes in his room and going back to watching Lost.

Blair walked out from the bathroom in her black, cat form. "Glad to see you're back."

"Yeah, hi again.

She eyed over at the wall clock. "Oh, I should start making some lunch now. Are you guys hungry too?"

I nodded. "I could use some lunch now, thank you."

"Okay! I'll go ahead and make my salted fish fingers!" She exclaimed cheerily and changed to her human form in a puff of purple smoke.

With Blair on lunch, I went into my room. Natsumi walked out just as I got to the door, nearly slamming the door in my face. "I'm very sorry!" She blurted in surprise.

I told her it was fine and asked her to go help Blair with making lunch. She politely accepted the request without protest and went off. I opened the door again and walked inside my own room, finding the pile of clothing on my bed. I thought for a moment where I would have Natsumi keep these. All my drawers were filled to the brim with my own stuff and they would likely get lost in my wreck of a closet. With no other option however, I began clearing space on the closet floor.

Luckily most of what was inside was a bunch of trash that needed thrown out anyway. I kept a bag of leftover grocery bags under my bed and grabbed those to keep the trash in until I got it outside. Many piles of paper later, I had managed to clear up the whole floor. It took a few more minutes to straighten up my clothes and dresses I had hanging. Once I finished though, I was well satisfied with the space.

I snipped off the tags on each of Natsumi's new garments with scissors and neatly folded each one in a separate pile. There was one for tops, bottoms, socks, underwear, and then shoes. When spread out like this, I couldn't really call them piles anymore since there wasn't too much clothing there. Even so, it would do for now.

As soon as I was satisfied with my work, I exited the room. Soul was back watching Lost and I decided to join him. He moved over when I approached and I sat down next to him on the love seat. I hadn't seen the beginning part of the episode so I had no idea what was going on. Then again, I never was into the storyline all that much. There's certainly a reason the classics are meant to be the classics. I turned off my mind to let the action scenes and dramatic actors lightly entertain me. I found it to be rather plain. Then I looked over at Soul who seemed a lot more into it than I would ever be. He sat there staring with his mouth slightly open like he was too preoccupied to even think about breathing. I lightly chuckled.

Apparently, Soul wasn't too far into his trance because he heard me. He whipped his head over in my direction. "What are you giggling about?"

"I can visibly see your brain rotting from all the TV you're watching," I said jokingly.

"Pfft," Soul smirked. "That's coming from the girl who always has her nose stuck in a book."

"Haha," I laughed sarcastically.

"If the show ain't your style, go find one of those books you love so much." He mocked, "Cool people like me watch TV."

I laughed. "Okay, what is it with you and being cool?"

"Being cool is cool, duh."

"Huh?"

He shook his head in amusement. "Maka, you might be cool, but you definitely ain't on the same coolness level as me."

"Like I care." I grumbled.

"Don't worry," He said with fake concern. "I'd be glad to give you some pointers. Like for one, you could definitely use better bras. You know, to keep _those_ up and perky."

I gawked at this, reaching for my nearby copy of _Oliver Twist_ and whacking it across his face. He jerked back from it initially, but didn't seem to care otherwise. I hadn't meant to hit him that hard anyway.

He smirked and said, "Okay, I deserved that one."

**My even stupider ending, guys! And you thought the last one was bad, hah!**

**I don't have much I want to say for this chapter. This tends to happen when you write "filler" chapters for the sake of developing the story and characters. Oh, wait, I just thought I should mention that cramming all this information into a pleasant, seemingly normal situation is freakin' difficult. I hope it pays off in the end…which the end might be awhile, heh. But I hope you like it anyway!**

**And before I forget, next chapter will be called, "Legitimacy Emerges". Please read and review because I love, love, love you if you do! 3 3**

**Trivia:**  
**1. I went to New York for a day when I was little. The guy who could freeze like a statue actually exists and he performs in various areas around the city. This chapter is dedicated to his awesomeness. X3**  
**2. I have never read _Oliver Twist_, but I saw the musical. I will now have to read it in honor of Maka. lol**


	9. Chapter 8

**Double Edged Blade**

**Chapter 8: Legitimacy Emerges**

**Original Story and Characters by Atsushi Ohkubo**

**Fan Story and Fan Characters by FailScribe**

**Edited by Kurochi Akuma and FailScribe**

**I'm not quite sure how this will turn out. Let's see, shall we?**

**Super thanks for reading!**

The weekend started up quickly. Saturday was gone in a flash since I slept in until like 11:30, happy to have not gotten any nightmares like before. In the morning my father called to say Nygus would be coming over the next day to see Yūichi and Natsumi, which meant I had something to look forward to. Soul had gone out all day to hang out with BlackStar for he felt bored staying at home all day. Blair was around for most of the afternoon, but she too went out in the evening. I was left by myself with Natsumi and Yūichi.

It wasn't too bad though since Yūichi was still asleep and I didn't want to wake him up. Natsumi looked bored most of the day, but when I brought out papers and crayons she was happy to draw pictures for me. Even though she was no child prodigy of art, I complimented her work politely. To keep myself occupied, I did Friday's homework brought over by Tsubaki. Unfortunately, Tsubaki couldn't stay long because she had frozen food from Death Mart and was worried it would spoil. I was glad she brought the homework anyway so I would have something to do.

Before I started the assignments, I called the team to arrange a meeting for the next day. I also caught Kid up by telling him about Yūichi. I figured Tsubaki was going to tell BlackStar since she knew from stopping by earlier. I was proven correct when I contacted BlackStar after Kid. Once everyone was informed, I began studying.

To prevent Natsumi from interrupting my concentration, I put her in front of the television and switched to Animal Planet at her request. Apparently, she likes watching the animals. I sat on the couch while she took the floor, nibbling on some graham crackers I gave her. First, I reviewed my textbooks before beginning the assignment and then got to work. By the time I was done it was 8:30. Soul came home soon after and we made dinner before all heading to bed.

I had another dream that night. I don't remember much of it except that I was standing in the middle of a red room. Under my feet was the jet black outline of the three Kishin eyes and a deep, maniacal laughter echoed in my ears. Suddenly, the eyes became mouths and sucked me inside of them. Their sharp teeth began chewing me to bits. I could only scream as flesh was torn from my lower half. I felt immense pain, which caused me to wake up. I jolted upright, lifting up the covers to assure myself I still had legs.

I swallowed hard and felt myself panting in response to my elevated heart rate. I became relieved when I realized I had only been dreaming. With a sigh I slammed my head back to my pillow. Too frightened to go back to sleep, I got up and went to the bathroom. I did my business then went up to the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was knotted and eyes were bloodshot. Sighing, I turned on the water and washed my face. The coolness felt calm, allowing me to relax.

I decided to head back to bed and try to get some sleep before morning. Nygus would be here 8:00 sharp and I needed to be as prepared as possible. I wouldn't be able to catch up on sleep in the afternoon either because BlackStar, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, and Patty were all coming over to discuss the mission. I took a step toward my room with a yawn thinking about possible strategies I would likely forget come morning. Before I could get to my room though, I noticed something on the living room couch.

I looked closer to see Yūichi. I was surprised since all this time he had been asleep. I went over to make sure he was okay. Sure enough, he heard me approach and woke up. He eyed me for a moment before his vision registered who I was. He began to sit up, but I told him to just lie still.

"You're up," I said happily, sitting down next to him and gently touching his shoulder.

He gave a short nod, still lying down. "I feel a lot better, Maka."

"That's good," I commented. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

I smiled. "Well can you wait till breakfast time?"

He nodded.

"Alright, let's wait then. What are you doing out of bed anyway?"

"Went pee and was too tired to walk back to the kitchen." He replied.

"Oh, well glad you got up to take care of that on your own."

He looked left then right as if searching for something. "Natsumi?"

"Obviously still asleep. Why?"

"Wanted to make sure."

Silence followed after that. I wanted to go back to sleep, but Yūīchi wasn't giving any indications the conversation should end. Yet at the same time, he didn't speak.

"Hey, Yūichi."

"Uhm?"

"You're spacing out again." I sighed.

He looked confused and lifted his head up to allow himself to hear more clearly. "What?"

"You're spacing out. You think a lot quietly…on your own." I explained, forgetting his first language wasn't English.

"Ohhh, okay."

Silence again. This was getting boring. "What are you thinking about?"

"The mirror."

I bit my lower lip, choosing my next words carefully. "How have you been doing?"

He nodded. "Right now I'm fine…back in the mirror it was very dark."

"Well it certainly did a number on your soul," I remarked. "You know, I could see something inside that mirror…and I sensed the presence of a soul. I didn't know it was you though and I'm sorry I wasn't careful."

He snorted in laughter. "You let me out. Why do you say sorry?"

I tittered nervously at his response. "I mean, I'm sure if I paid attention I would have thought of some way to get you out without messing up your soul."

"It's no problem. Things can happen." He tried to reassure me. I still continued to beat myself up over the mission failure, adding insult to injury whenever I could. "I am happy you saved Natsumi and me. Thank you." Yūichi smiled warmly.

I curled my lips into a tiny smile. "Honestly, you shouldn't be thanking me. It was really a team effort. But…we're glad we could help."

He nodded, going back to thinking silently.

I thought of something I could do to get myself out of the awkward silences. Yūichi has got to be hungry after not eating all day yesterday. "How about I get you a snack from the kitchen until breakfast starts?"

"Okay." He rolled over on the couch, stretching out with a yawn.

I got up and headed for the kitchen. While looking around in the cupboards, I found a packet of fruit gummies and saltine crackers; nothing fancy. To put some healthy sugar in his bloodstream, I prepared a small cup of orange juice. Satisfied, I brought these over to Yūichi and placed them on the coffee table. He sat up weakly and took a sip of the orange juice. He reacted in surprise, taking another cautious sip. His nose wrinkled at the taste and he put the glass down.

"Not to your liking?" I questioned as he nibbled on the fruit gummies.

He shook his head, swallowing. "Sour."

"Oh. Do you want something else?"

"No. It's fine."

Though I didn't say anything, I thought it was strange for him to insist on having something he didn't like. I tried to give him some apple juice, which probably tasted sweeter than orange juice. He didn't say anything when I set it down however. By now I was well awake and wanted to take a shower so I decided to let him be.

After I was done getting myself ready for the day, Yūichi had finished the snacks. I took his trash and turned on the television, handing him the remote. I went into the kitchen to start making breakfast, hoping the noise and smells would wake everyone up. The television woke up Natsumi who groggily went over next to her brother, holding her blanket like a teddy bear.

It took me a good hour to prepare breakfast. The sun shone brightly outside, gradually waking up Soul. He came out of his room and went into the bathroom without saying anything. I assumed he was taking "the morning pee". The front door opened and Blair walked in, wearing a black, silk dress from work. Even though she was a cat, Blair felt she should still make a living for herself so we didn't have to support her. She ended up finding employment at some bar known for its sexy waitresses. First time I heard about it I was so disgusted I told her to quit. Apparently Blair likes it though and thus she keeps working nights there to this day.

"Good morning, everyone!" Blair exclaimed cheerfully. "I'm back!"

"Just in time for breakfast." I smiled, turning off the burner for the oatmeal. "Soul! Are you about done in there yet? Food's up!"

"I'm in my room!" Soul called back, walking out still in the clothes he slept in.

Blair set her bag down and walked into the living room. "Natsumi, Yūichi, come and eat."

Natsumi nodded, cautiously going around Blair and sitting down at the table. Her brother managed to follow her despite his shaky legs barely able to hold his weight. Soul had already gotten to the table before them and helped lift Yūichi up to the chair. Blair and I arrived with the food. For today we were having blueberry oatmeal and Canadian bacon. I would have liked to have a bowl of fruit like last time, but we ran out. The lack of variety didn't seem to bother anyone however.

Soul was gobbling down the oatmeal. (It was his favorite thing to eat at breakfast.) At first, Yūichi was hesitant to taste the oatmeal, but when he saw Soul happily eating he took a careful bite. It must have tasted good because then he ate more and more until his bowl was clean. Blair attempted to have a conversation with Natsumi again and seemed to be making progress this time. Even though Natsumi was trying to ignore her, Blair persisted and got Natsumi to answer petty questions. Soul and I talked about more important matters though.

Today was the designated day that Nygus would be coming by. In addition to that, our team was going to come later in the afternoon. We planned on discussing the mission and where to go from here, but I think most of the visit will be us just goofing around. After the weekend we all had, I certainly didn't mind being side-tracked a little. It was still vital we had a plan before getting too relaxed though. I made sure Soul was aware of this as I talked about it with him at breakfast. I thankfully didn't have to do much convincing since he felt the same way. Once I explained what was going to happen for Natsumi and Yūichi, they both widened their eyes in anticipation.

"I want to play with them too!" Yūichi shouted, standing straight up with the new energy he got from the food.

"Yes. I must meet them. They are nice." Natsumi smiled shyly.

Soul chuckled. "Don't get too carried away just yet. Us grown-ups have to talk first."

"Talk about what?" Yūichi asked with a slight tilt of his head.

I smiled reassuringly. "Just some boring grown-up stuff."

He rolled his eyes in my direction, but said nothing more. Blair lightened the mood by cheerfully crying out, "Sounds exciting! It'll be like a party."

"Heh, I guess we could turn it into one if the situation calls for it." Soul smirked, leaning back on his chair.

"Well I for one think it's a great opportunity to get caught up with each other." I pointed out, standing up to begin clearing the table.

"That's true!" Blair gasped, turning to Yūichi. "They haven't met you yet, have they?"

Yūichi shook his head.

"Ah, well remember first impressions are everything. I'll be asleep and can't guide you, so be on your best behavior!"

"Yes, Miss Blair." He bowed his head.

Blair guffawed, patting Yūichi on the head. "Aw, such a good young man we have here. But really, you don't have to be so formal with me, darling."

Natsumi giggled and Yūichi smiled awkwardly. Blair came by to help clean up while Natsumi and Yūichi returned to the television. Soul went to get dressed for Nygus was going to be here soon. Right as I put away the last dish, I heard shouting coming from the living room.

"止めてよ！" I heard Natsumi squeal.

Yūichi's response was, "だめ！アニメを見たい！"

"鹿が好きだろ！"

"動物を見るのはバカ！"

Their voices sounded confrontational so I rushed out there. I found them both on the floor having a tug-of-war with the television remote. I stepped right in. "Hey! Hey! Stop it!"

Yūichi turned to me immediately and shouted, "She won't let me watch!"

"My favorite part!" Natsumi wailed.

"No one is going to watch TV if we can't get along!" I shouted back, hands on my hips.

Yūichi yanked the remote out of Natsumi's grip. "My turn now!"

"いやだああ！" Natsumi lunged toward Yūichi.

I snatched the remote from Yūichi's hand. "No! None of you can have it now!"

Natsumi screamed in protest pushing her brother back in anger. Yūichi had been sitting on his knees so only swung back a bit against the force of her push. It was still enough for me to get angry though. I shouted and grabbed Natsumi by the arm, pulling her back from Yūichi. "That's enough! Stop it! Both of you!"

"But my-!" Yūichi protested, reaching for the remote.

I lifted it above my head so he couldn't grab it. "Doesn't matter. Both of you need to get dressed since Nygus will be here within an hour."

I tugged Natsumi by the wrist. "Come on. Let's go to my room."

I left Yūichi to Soul and went to my room, ignoring any protests that followed. Natsumi was silent and gave me looks of pity any chance she got. I didn't give in. The argument was stupid anyway. Reality hit me this time. Natsumi and Yūichi weren't as mature as I made them both out to be before. They may have been through difficult times like I have, but that didn't make us on the same level. They were both obviously childish and had no sense of acting sensible. How could I expect either of them to provide much help in this fight? I was foolish to think so before.

Once the siblings were properly dressed, Blair went to sleep for the day. Right around this time was when Nygus arrived. I politely let her inside and we congregated around the dining room table. She began asking us questions about how we were caring for the two and I felt like I was receiving a police interrogation. Nygus was as nice as usual of course, but she was certainly taking their care seriously. I would have lied to get myself out of this job; however Natsumi's nervous eye twitches convinced me otherwise. Despite the progress Natsumi had made in opening up, she still wasn't ready to accept others. Perhaps within a week or two she would be more willing.

After Nygus determined the siblings would be fine if left in our care, she gave us some helpful advice. For instance, if one of them were to get sick, we were to separate them from others in case it was something contagious. Additionally she explained that we need to have a lot of patience with them since they were children and liable to mess up. I only wish Nygus would have told us this before the television incident. I would just have to remember it for the future from now on.

With all our questions answered, Nygus then took a look at Yūichi. She examined him from head to toe to find he was healthy despite the weakened soul. To help his recovery along, she gave us some special soul medication. Before she could leave, I asked if I could speak to her in private. It was my chance to figure out what happened to my energy level the morning after Natsumi and Yūichi came here.

I explained the problem only to have her look puzzled. She told me that fatigue was common when one didn't get enough sleep. This wasn't normal fatigue though. I could feel the hopelessness and depression draining my happiness. I wanted to explain this part to her, but I thought against it. Perhaps she was right. I haven't felt that same fatigue again since that Friday. Plus, with the situation we were all in as it is, my concern shouldn't be with my minor health problems. Perhaps most of all though, I didn't want this to be something abnormal. If I simply ignored it and went on like nothing was wrong, it might just go away. Therefore due to all three of these reasons, I simply smiled and nodded in agreement with Nygus' quick diagnosis.

A few hours after Nygus left, there was another knock at the door. Soul answered to find Death the Kid, Liz, and Patty had all arrived earlier than expected. They were all dressed casually for the warm weekend weather. Death the Kid wore a black T-shirt under a denim jacket and gray slacks. I was surprised to see Liz and Patty had on different outfits since normally Kid had them dress the same to relieve his anxiety caused by his OCD. Liz was wearing a purple, spaghetti strap top and dark blue shorts while her sister, Patty, had on a light blue T-shirt with a teddy bear design. Instead of shorts, Patty wore pink yoga pants. All three of them had on similar looking sandals though, so perhaps this new style had been the result of a compromise.

Soul showed them to the living room where I was looking through a brochure for a Death Weapon and Meister University. Yūichi was sitting next to me, having found a Rubix cube entertaining enough to allow Natsumi to watch Animal Planet. I stood up, putting the brochure down to properly greet the three.

"Hey, Maka." Liz gave me a hug. "How's it been lately?"

"Just fine, actually," I said lying a little bit. "What about all of you?"

Kid rested his hands on his hips. "Well we've been thinking about different strategies."

"Kid!" Liz protested. "Let's not jump into business right away. Come on, lighten up!"

"Yay giraffes!" Patty exclaimed, sitting down next to Natsumi to watch the nature documentary more closely. Natsumi looked horrified and quickly moved out of the way to give Patty all the floor space.

Kid took it upon himself to find more interesting conversations with Soul and left after excusing himself politely. Liz looked over at Patty briefly, but turned her attention back to me. "So are they twins?"

I shook my head. "Nope. According to Natsumi, she is the older one."

"Oh dear. Well I hope they don't get into fights too often." She commented, eyeing over at Yūichi who was still concentrating on the cube.

"Speaking of that," I chuckled nervously. "We had an incident today where they both wanted to watch different TV shows. I wish we had two TVs."

"Oh God. Seriously, girl, we can take them off your hands if you want. Wait, isn't Nygus back? So they could stay at the academy now, right?"

I sighed. "Unfortunately it isn't that simple. Natsumi is still paranoid around other people and Yūichi, the boy, just follows along. I think they're just too attached-"

"Hey, they aren't going to become less attached if they stay here longer. It's probably better if they go now before they start calling you mommy." Liz explained, crossing her arms and frowning in worry.

I thought for a moment, nodding. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Maybe I'll try to work out something with Lord Death tonight."

Liz smiled. "Just remember you don't have to feel bad about asking for help. We're here for you. I mean, we're all a team, right?"

"Yeah." I said in agreement, smiling too.

At that moment, Soul and Kid came out from the kitchen, passing out cans of soda. I noticed Natsumi had decided to hide in the dining room, away from all the people. I wasn't tempted in the least to go over and comfort her. Right now all I wanted to do was relax and have fun.

BlackStar and Tsubaki came over a half-hour later. BlackStar made sure we all knew he was here by banging on the door and yelling, "Open up and let's get this party started!"

Liz rolled her eyes, but opened the door to let them both in. Tsubaki stood there with a smile slightly hidden by her long, black hair that she normally tied up. She had on a nice white, summer dress with sunflowers on the bottom. BlackStar on the other hand wore a green T-shirt and black jeans. He walked right in, chest puffed out and looking important as usual. In contrast, Tsubaki followed behind him, politely saying hello to everyone nearby.

Kid cleared his throat, silencing all conversation. "So now that we're all here, we should begin discussing-"

"Kid! Come on! At least let us watch a movie first." Liz complained with a scrunched face and crossed arms.

"I like movies." A new voice said.

All of us looked to see Yūichi still sitting on the couch with his partially completed Rubix cube. He stared back at everyone, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Who are you?" BlackStar asked bluntly.

"BlackStar!" Tsubaki gasped. "That's the boy I told you about, remember?"

"Oh! Right! Hi there, kid."

Yūichi still looked confused. "Hi?"

"Anyway," I pulled everybody back to the movie topic. "I think since we haven't gotten to touch base in awhile, we should play it casual for now."

"I'm cool with that. It's the weekend anyway." Soul added.

"Aw, but it's so nice out." Tsubaki sighed, looking out the window.

"I vote we have a picnic!" Patty suggested with a wide grin.

Yūichi gasped in excitement, eyes lighting up. "Yeah! Good idea!"

He stood up and held out a fist to Patty who initially eyed him in confusion, but then got the idea and fist bumped him. She shot her hand up in the air then. "Alright! That's two votes for picnic! Whoot!"

"Make that three. I want to tan." Liz raised her hand.

Soul shrugged, raising his hand. "I need to get out anyway."

"Yay!" Yūichi shouted. "Now four!"

He then proceeded to run over to Natsumi who was still hiding and forced her to hold her own hand up. "She is vote five!"

Natsumi's eyes were so wide in terror that I thought they might fall out of her skull. That didn't bother Patty though who counted it anyway. "Okay so that's the majority! Picnic wins! Hahah!"

"Okay everyone!" Kid shouted, glaring sternly at everyone. "Look, I realize it might be tempting to party and chill out; however, did you forget this mission is very serious?"

BlackStar nodded. "Yeah, we gotta go kick Fuyuki's ah- I mean, butt."

I was glad BlackStar caught himself before accidently teaching Natsumi and Yūichi a new word. Last thing I needed were conservative parents freaking out on me for ruining their children's innocence.

"In any case," I eyed over at Patty. "I think Kid is right. We can still have fun…but let's just take care of things first."

Liz nodded in agreement. "Of course. That makes sense. Sorry, Kid."

"Perfectly alright." He straightened himself up. "Now where shall we begin?"

All of us gathered around in the living room. While I went to grab some notes, Yūichi got himself acquainted with the rest of the team. I came back to find Yūichi, Patty, and BlackStar were getting along just fine. They were talking excitedly about different fighting styles, but other than that I couldn't catch anything else. When I put the stuff down, Kid told Yūichi to go play with Natsumi and let us work this out. He obediently did what he was told and went into the dining room with Natsumi. Soul had given Natsumi some papers and crayons to keep her preoccupied. Thankfully, Yūichi had taken his Rubix cube with him so we didn't have to worry about him either.

The meeting began with Soul and I explaining our situation. We went over how Yūichi got here and about the mirror Fuyuki trapped him in. I added that Yūichi seemed to understand the situation more than Natsumi; or at least had the confidence to talk about it. Additionally, both Soul and I were perplexed why Fuyuki was only interested in obtaining Natsumi.

We had a mountain of evidence that pointed toward this. Firstly, when the mirror broke, Fuyuki wasn't rushing to trap Yūichi again. Secondly, Fuyuki had sealed away Yūichi in a place where he wouldn't be easily accessible; meaning that Fuyuki didn't want to use Yūichi like he did Natsumi. The part that was most evident of Fuyuki's favoritism was the fact he didn't even mention Yūichi's existence. He talked about Natsumi like she was so precious, yet never once complained when we got Yūichi out of the mirror.

Kid scratched his chin. "Hmm, but perhaps Fuyuki simply didn't want to allude he had Yūichi in the first place."

"That might be possible." I shrugged.

"Doubt it." Soul leaned back on the couch he and I were both sitting on. "I definitely don't catch a vibe that this guy wants Yūichi as much as Natsumi."

"He's the same weapon as her though. Wouldn't they both be equally powerful?" Liz asked, looking toward Natsumi and Yūichi.

"Not necessarily," Kid referred to Liz and Patty. "As a meister, I can say you both aren't exactly the same. I must adjust my perception for each side to keep everything symmetrical and balanced. Think of me as glue between all of our wavelengths."

"Sounds like a lot of work." I commented, taking a sip of water.

BlackStar scoffed. "It's Kid. He's got it handled almost as well as me."

"Well the point is that no two weapons are the same. Therefore it is possible Fuyuki would prefer Natsumi over Yūichi." Kid continued, putting his pointer finger to his chin in thought.

"But why?" I questioned.

Kid shrugged. "We'd have to take a closer look at both of their wavelengths."

Tsubaki sat up a bit more. "We might not want to worry about that too much. I'm mostly concerned about their safety and returning them back home."

"Our plan is pretty much the same as before. There are just two children instead of one." Kid explained.

"Yep," said Soul, crossing his arms. "Though we should concentrate more on Natsumi."

"I'm in agreement with that."

"Wait a moment," Liz raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are we going to do? Wait for Fuyuki to come out so we can attack? Sorry, but that doesn't sound very solid."

"I was just about to say something of that nature. While I think it's certainly easy to sit back and wait, it could also be more dangerous." Kid stated,

I blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, if we wait around, Fuyuki could use the time to get even more powerful. He knows we have our guards up. My guess is he's powering himself up until he can push right past our shield to take what he wants."

I didn't think about it that way before. That certainly would explain why Fuyuki hadn't directly gone after Natsumi yet. All he did since Thursday was send a puppet dragon to pathetically attempt to take Natsumi; a dragon that was easily pinned down by Yūichi in his basic knife form. Now that I had some new insight though, I thought perhaps that dragon was some warning Fuyuki sent to let us know he was still in business. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I glanced over at Natsumi and Yūichi childishly playing together while giggling.

"Then how can we find him?" I asked Kid, though still looked over at the two siblings.

Kid thought for a moment, "We could try and make it seem like we have our guard down. That may get him to try for a surprise attack if he's impatient enough. We'd have to be on alert secretly, but I'm sure we could pull it off."

"How? I mean, how do you suppose we act like that?" Liz asked with an annoyed look of confusion.

"Let's go out!" Patty recommended happily.

I didn't think much of this statement, but then realization hit. "Wait, I think she might be on to something."

"Really?" Liz stared oddly at her younger sister. "What you thinking, Patty?"

Patty grinned, "If we just go outside, have a picnic, and hang out, we'll be like sitting ducks and the bad guy will have to come after us!"

They all sat there in silence, so I explained the idea in more formal terms. "See, we've been keeping Natsumi and Yūichi inside this whole time. It's the best way we can protect them because even if Fuyuki tries to get into here, it would create a big commotion. Since this area is filled with the homes of meisters and weapons for the DWMA, that wouldn't be a smart idea. But if we went out in the city and made ourselves noticeable to him, then we'd become easy targets."

"Hmm, if that doesn't get him to come out, I don't know what will." Soul said with a smirk.

"Then where are we going to go?" Liz asked with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

"I generally wouldn't recommend going with a crowded city street." Kid remarked.

"Dark alleys are always fun." Soul's smirk widened.

I stared at him with disbelief. "What kind of person takes two kids into a dark, cold, and abandoned alley?"

He shrugged. "Obviously someone trying to get caught."

"You have a point…" I muttered, still glaring at him with annoyance at the suggestion.

"To be serious," The joking tone of Soul's voice became normal. "We could actually just go out in our front yard."

"Why there?" Liz questioned.

"I suggested it, but really, if we go into a dark alley Fuyuki won't go for it. We might as well hold up a beacon saying, 'We're trying to look easy now come out of hiding!' But if we go to our yard, which is kind of hidden, it would seem more natural; like we're not just doing this to bait the hook."

"I see what you mean." Kid said.

"Awesome! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" BlackStar laughed, standing up and striking a fight pose with his fists held up.

I stared. "You're ready for a battle?"

"Hah, if you guys aren't, that's okay. I'll gladly take over for you until you're ready to fight alongside this God." He pointed to himself with a grin.

Tsubaki smiled gently. "I'll be right there with you, BlackStar."

Patty jumped up. "Yeah! Let's go right now!"

"You know what," Kid sat up straight. "I think that might be the best approach. We've been wasting a lot of time."

"W-W-Wait," Liz cautioned. "Shouldn't we get more prepared first?"

Kid shook his head. "Well maybe mentally. However, if we go off to get are usual battle supplies it'd make us suspicious. We want to seem casual, after all."

"Alright," Liz muttered, twirling her hair in hesitation.

I crackled my knuckles with a determined smirk. "I'm ready. How about you, Soul?"

"Hehe, you bet. I haven't done something cool like this in awhile."

"Patty and I will start getting things ready. You know, picnic food and blankets." Liz informed everyone, asking, "It okay if I raid your house for stuff?"

"Knock yourself out." Soul answered, standing up and heading for the front door with BlackStar. "We'll play some basketball awhile."

"I'll go get Natsumi and Yūichi." I volunteered, going to the dining room.

I found them both where we had last left them. Unfortunately our meeting must have taken longer than I thought because they both looked bored out of their brains. Natsumi had stopped drawing and was now sitting against a wall, half-asleep. Yūichi took it upon himself to scribble up some of the drawings Natsumi had done. She didn't seem to care though. He was also muttering things in Japanese, like he was letting his imagination run wild through the pages. The Rubix cube Soul had given him had been abandoned, still unsolved too.

The instant I walked in, they both looked up in anticipation. I bit my lower lip trying to think of how to explain the situation to them. I didn't want to lie to them by saying it was going to be a fun picnic for everyone. Yet at the same time, I didn't have much of a choice. If either of them knew what was going to happen, they would obviously refuse to let it go on. "We're done. So let's go have that picnic, okay?"

**I'm so happy we're getting somewhere. ^-^ My Japanese is too formal these days. I tried to form the siblings' dialogue as naturally as possible, but if I missed something, let me know and I'll fix it~**

**The next chapter is going to be "Frost Bite". All guesses in the reviews or PMs are appreciated though I will not tell you the answer. You'll have to find out when you read. lol**


End file.
